Cold Justice
by porkycat
Summary: The infamous gang of bandits called the Akatsuki destroyed the small mining town Konoha one night and killed anyone who stood in their way. Ten years later the sheriff's son Sasuke sets out on a quest for revenge, leading a group of outcast misfits to finally achieve justice. After all, revenge is best served cold. Western AU
1. Betrayal

The history of Konoha may have been short, but it was a tumultuous one. It was founded on the empty hopes of striking gold in the foothills of the endless valley, and it was this once shining hope that only led to chaos and destruction.

As miners came from miles around looking to strike it rich, a semblance of a town began to form, but without any of the laws or regulations a town required. Crime was running rampant, and if any lucky miner did happen to make a fortunate discovery he was likely to be quickly murdered for the price of a couple beers. The West was a generally dangerous place, but Konoha was quickly developing a reputation as one of the most formidable places of all.

The town gained new hope when two young lawyers happened to travel by, a hope that did not revolve around riches but instead revolved around the idea of becoming a community and peaceful oasis within the dry valley. The young men spoke of order and law, and they spoke so convincingly that even the stubbornest of miners couldn't help but listen.

The man named Minato was especially well liked in the community, much to the jealousy of his friend Fugaku Uchiha. Minato Namikaze was kind and gentle to the residents of Konoha, but he was also very well trained with a rifle. He was unanimously named Sheriff by the members of the town, but instead took the title of deputy so his friend could be sheriff, knowing that Fugaku desired the position much more than he did. Even though he had the position he wanted, Fugaku still felt a burning grudge to see the love that the town had for Minato, knowing full well that they did not feel the same towards him. He continued to feel threatened by the deputy's position, but didn't dare speak against the beloved deputy.

For years Konoha prospered under the watchful care of its two protectors, but it was this very abundance that led to turmoil in the growing town, for where there is peace chaos may soon follow.

Having heard of the town's affluent mining industry, a gang of rogue bandits who called themselves the Akatsuki rode in to town one night on black steeds, carrying torches and guns ablaze. The gang consisted of only five men, so Fugaku and Minato thought they would be able to drive them off. They steered them away from the main buildings and managed to shoot down two of them when the unthinkable happened: Fugaku shot Minato.

Fugaku's heart almost stopped as he watched his friend fall ungracefully off his horse and lay limply on the ground. If any of the town discovered what happened, he knew he could never show his face in Konoha again. Time seemed to stand still in that moment as Fugaku turned pale considering the repercussions of his misfire that led to him shooting the beloved town hero, but he was quickly snapped back in to reality when a shot fired close to his head.

Fugaku then fought with a new intensity, shooting down two more of the bandits until the last one ran away scared. When it was over he stepped off his horse and dared to look at his fallen comrade. Even though the town had no idea he was the one who had shot him, the sheriff couldn't stand the idea of the whole town mourning for Minato instead of celebrating Fugaku's victory. Years of jealousy and discontent stewed inside him, and he knew what he had to do for him and the town's peace of mind.

"Minato was a traitor," he announced to the town as they gathered outside. "He is the one who led these bandits here, promising them our precious mines for a share of the wealth!"

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Shikaku asked suspiciously, a miner well known for his intellect.

"I am your sheriff, I would not lie to you," Fugaku answered, somehow able to keep his voice strong despite the fear within him. "When we were lawyers together Minato was never an honorable man, and I had known him to have frequent dealings with bandits before. I thought he had changed when he came here, but... looks like I was wrong."

"NO! It can't be true!" a redhead shrieked as she ran out of the crowd and knelt at Minato's body. "Minato was a good man, Fugaku is lying!"

"Kushina, I know it must be hard for you to hear of your husband's treachery... especially when you are with child, but I am only interested in the welfare of this town. If you check Minato's pockets, perhaps you will find some evidence for what I have told you."

Kushina hesitantly patted Minato's pockets and pulled out a sack, opening it up to peer inside. "It's... full of gold."

The crowd murmured amongst itself as Fugaku nodded grimly. "The truth can be unfortunate sometimes, but we must face it as we have bravely faced so many other obstacles as a town."

"Minato wasn't like that, he didn't care about wealth or power," Kushina cried, shaking her head. She then cried even louder, clutching her stomach. Mikoto Uchiha, Fugaku's wife, moved out of the crowd to hold Kushina.

"Kushina, please do not work yourself up so much. Think of the baby," the dark-haired woman comforted.

"The baby... is coming," Kushina grunted.

And so the same night that Minato left the world, Naruto entered it. The delivery was difficult and extremely painful, but no one could tell if Kushina died due to complications with the birth or if it was due to a broken heart. Either way, it was Konoha's darkest night thus far, until one night 7 years later caused more pain than could have been imagined.

* * *

"Big brother, tell me again of the night that Father drove off those bandits!"

"Sasuke, I've told you that story about a million times. Besides, I was only 4 so I barely remember anything," Itachi explained, but it didn't stop Sasuke from continuing to give him puppy dog eyes. "I'm sure Dad would be able to tell it a lot better than me, so maybe you should go ask him."

"He's always busy with things," Sasuke said, absentmindedly kicking a rock on the path home from the small Konoha school house.

"Well, he is the Sheriff, and as the Sheriff he has a lot of responsibility to protect all of us... Just like he did 7 years ago," Itachi replied patiently, putting an arm around his kid brother. Something else had caught Sasuke's eye, however, so he quickly forgot about his mission to hear the bandit story again.

"Look over there, Itachi," Sasuke said, pointing at a boy running across the schoolyard as their teacher chased him angrily. "Naruto's up to no good again. He's just like his dad, isn't he... the traitor." By then the story of Minato's betrayal of the town had become infamous, and so had his son. The town was conflicted on how to treat Naruto, for though his father was certainly a traitor Naruto himself was not to blame. Most of the town simply ignored him, while others were more outwardly cruel towards the boy.

"It is not our place to judge him," Itachi said, shaking his head. "Perhaps he acts out all the time to get attention. After all, he is an orphan and is not as fortunate as you and I to have a loving home."

"Maybe... but he's still a loser," Sasuke conceded.

"Perhaps you should try playing with him some time? You two are in the same grade, aren't you?"

"I already said he's a loser, so why would I want to be friends with a guy like that!" Sasuke crossed his arms and pouted.

"Well, what about playing with those two?" Itachi pointed to a chubby boy and dark-haired kid walking nearby.

"Shikamaru and Chouji? They're no fun."

"Hmmm, but what about them?" This time Itachi pointed to a blonde and a pink-haired girl giggling nearby.

"They're girls!"

"Sasuke, you really should try to make friends with at least some of the kids your age," Itachi said with a soft smile, rubbing his little brother on the head.

"Why would I want to play with any of them when I have a cool big brother like you I can play with!" Sasuke said. "Now are you gonna tell me the story about Father and the bandits!"

"I told you, ask Dad!"

At that moment Fugaku Uchiha was sitting alone in his office in the Sheriff's department, head buried in his hands and a light sweat on his forehead. Konoha had been very peaceful ever since that night and had flourished even more under his careful watch. But it was this exact peace that unnerved him.

Right at that moment when the town had everything to lose was when he most expected for the Akatsuki to return. Last time only one guy had gotten out alive, but since then Fugaku had heard _whispers_... rumors of the once small gang becoming a large and dangerous organization terrorizing the West. Whether he realized it or not, Fugaku had grown obsessive in his unresolved fears, and deep down he could never shake the gnawing guilt he carried for Minato's murder.

 _It had been an accident_ , he told himself. _The gun simply misfired, I was really aiming for the bandits._ But no matter how much he tried to believe it he could never truly convince himself.

Fugaku really did care deeply for Konoha and would do absolutely anything to protect it and his family. The townspeople may not have loved him as much as they loved Minato, but they had really grown to respect and admire their leader. It was his job to protect them under any means necessary, and with this in mind Fugaku had felt it was time to take drastic measures to defend his beloved town.

A month ago he had contacted the leader of the Akatsuki in secret. Fugaku had worked out a deal with the gang: if he gave them a portion of the material they mined, they would stay away from the town. Minato would have never made such a deal, which is why the Uchiha knew he was a better leader than his friend could have ever been. Sometimes you had to do unpleasant things for a good outcome.

"Father, are you here?" a small voice echoed in the building, causing Fugaku to jump in his seat.

"Oh, it's only you Sasuke," the man said, seeing his 7 year old son standing in the doorway.

"Itachi sent me over here cuz he wouldn't tell me about the story with the bandits. He said I should ask you about it," Sasuke said, moving to the other side of the room to look out the window. "Um... Father? Who are those strange men riding in to town?"

Fugaku leaped out of his seat to see a group of 20 or so men in black cloaks riding in to town, torches ablaze in almost the exact fashion as 7 years ago. His face whitened and he lingered at the window for only a moment before he closed the curtain and leaped in to action, grabbing his gun and hat and rushing out the door. _The Akatsuki have fallen back on their word... how could this have happened._

"Stay here, Sasuke, no matter what," he yelled back at his son as he rushed out the building. And that was the last Sasuke saw of his father, on the night where everything was taken away from him.

* * *

 **This chapter is really just setting the scene for the rest of the story, so I promise things will pick up next chapter. Yeah, so sorry if this is slow! I've already outlined the next chapter so I should be done with it within the next couple days.**

 **This is my first fanfiction so any reviews are really really appreciated! Like I said, this story will really pick up and get a lot better starting next chapter.**


	2. The Journey Begins

Ten years was a long time to hate someone, but it was an even longer time to hate everyone. Some scars never truly healed, and for Sasuke Uchiha that meant that a decade after he lost everything he still had gaping wounds that hadn't even begun to close over.

The Akatsuki.

It was a name he would never forget. It was on his mind every morning he woke up, every night he went to sleep, and with every bullet he shot. Some people had tried to move on and forget that bloody night, not that there were many people left to remember it. Sasuke never could, nor did he intend to.

 _Sasuke crouched under his father's desk and rocked back and forth in a sleepless daze, even long after the screams had died and there were no more gunshots to be heard. "Stay here Sasuke, no matter what", his father had told him. And he did just that._

 _It wasn't until almost two days later that an old woman found him when she was going through Fugaku's desk. She had been scavenging his office for any valuables she could take when she tripped on a small form huddled on the floor._

 _"What's this?" she said, looking down to see a small boy curled up at her feet. She nudged him a little with her foot, worried it was yet another dead body in the already desolate town. The figure unraveled and a pair of large dark eyes stared up at the women._

 _"My father," he choked out in a faint voice. "Where is he?"_

 _The old woman looked sadly at the desk where her eye fell on a photograph of a family. Fugaku with his wife and two sons... one of them here in the room. "He's gone now, boy... Everything's gone."_

 _"Wh-what do you mean," Sasuke whispered, though the screams and gunfire he had heard already told him his answer._

 _"You were too young to have been alive, but seven years ago a gang of bandits who called themselves the Akatsuki came through these parts. Luckily your father drove them off, but it seems they never forgot this place. They returned, looking for our gold."_

 _"But we don't have any gold here," Sasuke said, still too in shock to fully comprehend the situation. "It's just copper in the mines... my big brother told me that."_

 _"Didn't take 'em too long to realize that either. They threw explosives in the mines... they're completely gone now. Half the city is too. You're pretty lucky they didn't set fire to this place, too, or you'd be gone with the rest of them," the old lady said somewhat bluntly._

 _Sasuke's eyes watered. "My father?"_

 _"The Sheriff did try to fight them off, so did some of the other men, but they were outnumbered. I'm sorry, kid. I wish I had good news for you," she said, shaking her head. Sasuke shoved past the woman and ran out of the office in tears. He had to see for himself._

 _The entire town was in ruins. The schoolhouse, the bank, the old saloon, almost everything had crumbled down with the flames of the Akatsuki. Sasuke ran down the path he knew so well as his tears blinded him, ran until he reached what had once been his home... now nothing more than debris and ashes._

Sasuke could never recover after that night, but neither could Konoha. With its entire mining industry collapsed and half the buildings destroyed, it became like a ghost town. Most of those who survived moved on, and those who stayed only did so because they had nowhere else to go.

He had only survived because of the charity of the woman who found him in his father's office. Granny Tami was a widow and had grown children who had moved out and left her alone, so taking in Sasuke was a way to keep her occupied. She wasn't the most honest or virtuous person, but for the most part she meant well and provided for Sasuke so long as he helped out with any work she needed done. Still, neither of them were very sentimental towards each as Sasuke had always kept his distance.

Any free time he had he spent shooting. He had kept only two things from his past life: his father's rifle and the picture of his family. He rarely went anywhere without either.

All his training was for one purpose only: to hunt down the Akatsuki and kill every single last one of them in vengeance for what they had done to his family and his town. Ten years training for his life goal, and he finally knew it was time to put his plan in to action. Today he would set out for the Akatsuki, and whether he came back alive or not didn't matter so long as every bandit was dead.

"Old Lady... I'm leaving," Sasuke said to the house, facing the door.

"Go catch me something to cook while you're out!" she yelled from the other room.

"I'm not coming back. Thank you... for everything," he said, and with that he was gone.

"What was that?"

The only answer Granny Tami got was the loud bang of the door as Sasuke left for the last time.

* * *

Naruto Uzamaki hadn't had much in life: no parents, no real home, no friends. In some ways the night the Akatsuki invaded had actually benefitted him, since he gained at least one of these things after that.

He had practically been shoved in to the small orphanage in Konoha the moment he was born, and there he stayed for the first 7 years of his life. It hadn't been too awful and sometimes it was actually kind of fun playing pranks on everyone, but it wasn't hard to tell that no one really wanted him there. It was all because of his dumb traitor dad, even though that had all happened before Naruto was even born.

Naruto had wished he was like Sasuke, though he would never admit it to anyone. Now that guy was cool, and he had a good dad the whole town looked up to and an actual family. The only attention Naruto could ever get from anyone would be if he was making them mad with his pranks, something he tended to do a lot.

When the orphanage was burnt down in the fire and everyone else was lost, Naruto had nowhere to go; no family, no connections, and nothing to his name but the heavy burden of being the son of the town's most hated guy. He had wandered around and couldn't help but being sad at the sight of his destroyed town, for even though it had never given him much he still loved it and deeply cared for its residents, most of who were gone now.

Eventually Naruto did wander to the outskirts of town, where he found himself standing at the door of the old Haruno farmhouse. The farm was far enough out that it had been completely untouched by the flames of the Akatsuki. He wasn't sure what compelled him to do it, but he ended up knocking on that heavy wooden door, and it was that simple knock that gave him the closest thing he ever had to a home.

The Haruno's had immediately welcomed Naruto to their home, completely sympathetic of the town burning down. The farm was even older than Konoha, they told him, and had been in their family for generations.

"You know, we could use a farm hand around here if you'd like to stay," old man Kizashi had suggested once Naruto told him his situation.

"Oh boy, would I! I promise I'd be the best farm hand ever! I don't really know what a farm hand does, but whatever it is I'll work really hard!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

"Great! You can sleep with the horses," his wife added with a loud laugh. "I'm only kidding, we have a small cabin out back you can stay in if you'd like."

"Gee, I've never had my own place before." Naruto flashed a toothy grin and rubbed his head. The Haruno's invited Naruto inside as they left to go fix up the cabin in the back.

As soon as they were gone a girl peeked out from the hallway of the farm house and came in to the front room. She had short pink hair that flew everywhere, two front teeth missing, and boyish overalls on over her skinny frame. "Hey Naruto, you're okay!" she said, looking him up and down with her bright green eyes.

"Sakura! I didn't know you lived here!"

"Never mind that, what do you know about the town!" she demanded. "The other school kids?"

"Well I don't know, I didn't really see anyone. When those scary guys came I had been hiding in a tree, waiting to pour paint on anyone who walked by. Guess I got lucky," he explained sheepishly.

"Typical Naruto," she muttered. "But hey... did you see Ino?" Ino and Sakura were best friends, even Naruto knew that. The two were practically inseparable in the school yard.

"I think I did, with Chouji and Shikamaru. They were all running around when everything was happening," he said, thinking hard. "But I don't remember anything else."

"Stupid Naruto, this is important!" Sakura yelled, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. But no matter how much she yelled Naruto had no answers for her.

So they had all lost something that day. Sasuke had lost his family, Sakura had lost her best friend, and Naruto had lost his place in the orphanage, not that that was really a bad thing.

He had kept his promise and had continued to work hard on the farm for the next ten years, determined to do right in his life for once. With every piece of horse poop he shoveled, he felt in an odd way he was atoning for his father's sins as well as for his own past prankster ways. But it still wasn't really enough. Naruto couldn't shake a restless feeling, a yearning to leave Konoha and see what else the world had to offer to him.

Opportunity presented itself when Sasuke Uchiha came knocking on the Haruno's door, just as Naruto had done ten years prior. But this time it was Sakura who answered it. She had grown taller since her younger years but still maintained a sort of boyish awkwardness that thinly veiled her blossoming beauty.

"I need a horse," Sasuke said without greeting.

"Oh, good morning Sasuke," Sakura said with a blushing smile. They had discovered Sasuke's survival not long after the bandit attack when he and an old lady had stopped by to purchase some crops. Since then they had had quite a few encounters. After all, when a town was as small as Konoha was residents were bound to run in to each other.

"How much is it."

"The horse?"

"Yes," Sasuke answered, practically steaming with impatience.

"Depends on the one you want. I'll lead you out to see them," Sakura said, stepping outside and walking around the house to the stables in the back. Every now and then she turned around to see if Sasuke was still following her. _Those dark intense eyes, that brooding stare... he really is handsome,_ Sakura thought with a blush, turning back around so he wouldn't see it. Not that he would have noticed; he seemed to be in another world at the moment. "Here we are! The horses are just inside."

Sasuke moved past her and stepped inside to the small stables, where five horses were lined up in the different stalls. In the center of it all was Naruto shoveling poop, causing Sasuke to display a rare amused expression.

"Still scooping horse shit for a living, I see," Sasuke said to Naruto, who turned to glare at the Uchiha.

"Sakura, why is _he_ here?"

"I'm a paying customer," Sasuke said, pulling a wad of bills out of his pocket. "I'm here to buy a horse."

"Big deal, like you could even ride one. What do you need a horse for anyways?" Naruto scoffed.

"I'm going to track down and kill the Akatsuki," Sasuke answered.

Sakura gasped and ran in front of Sasuke. "The Akatsuki? Do you even know how dangerous that is! They practically wiped out our whole town, and I heard they've only gotten worse since then! How would you expect to take on all of them by yourself!"

Sasuke frowned. This girl was really annoying. "All I asked for was a horse and I have the money, so spare me your lecture."

"He won't be going alone Sakura," Naruto said, "cuz I'm going with him!"

"What!" Sakura and Sasuke exclaimed in unison.

"The Akatsuki practically destroyed Konoha, we can't just let them get away with it. Sasuke's right, it's time we go after them and make them pay," Naruto said.

"Then I'm coming, too," Sakura added. "You need a woman with you if you plan on getting anything done."

"You're not really a woman, though, Sakura," Naruto said sheepishly, only to receive a hard punch from Sakura.

"OH YEAH, at least I don't hit like one!" Sakura screamed, displaying her fiery temper. Sasuke only frowned impatiently, anxious to be done with the two.

"I don't need the son of a traitor and an annoying farm girl with me. I am going alone," Sasuke said coldly.

"Hmmm, too bad you need these horses. It's a shame you'll have to walk that whole way," Sakura responded playfully.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well I'm obviously not going to sell you any horse unless you take me and Naruto with you," she said, crossing her arms. "How else would I make sure you keep my horses safe?"

Sasuke groaned and closed his eyes. "Fine. But if you two are a burden to me don't think I won't leave you in the middle of the desert."

An hour later they had prepared everything and were seated on their horses, leaving Konoha for the first time in their lives. It wasn't easy convincing Sakura's parents to allow her to go, but in the end Sakura could be pretty persuasive.

"You really think the three of us could take on the Akatsuki?" Sakura asked Naruto as Sasuke rode ahead silently.

"Of course we can, believe it!" Naruto said with a smile. Sakura wished she could be as optimistic as Naruto, but for the mean time she was simply happy to have left the sheltering confines of the farmhouse. She had lived her whole life in a bubble, never doing anything worthwhile in all her 17 years, and she was ready to prove that for once she could be useful. No matter what she would not be a burden to Naruto and Sasuke.

"Well either way, we got a long way ahead of us," she said. "This valley goes on for miles, and who knows what might happen along the way."

* * *

 **This chapter was still setting up a bit, but more action at least.**

 **Next update soon.. reviews appreciated!**


	3. Caravan of Wonders

Konoha was placed in the center of a very long, mostly flat valley that only had a few other sparse towns to speak of. With so few people in the area it could be nearly impossible to find any sort of business for a traveling carnival.

Well, it wasn't really much a carnival, but its proprietors still insisted on referring to it as one. It would be much more accurate to say it was a three man act based out of a ramshackle caravan pulled by an old mule. Even though their home and base of operation didn't look like much, the "carnies" were all surprisingly very good. Not that they had much of an audience, though. They wandered from town to town and stirred up any business they could, earning just enough for the basic necessities.

"Shikamaru, if we're looking for customers why are we out here in the middle of nowhere!" Ino complained. "Honestly, sometimes I question if you really are a genius. If we had it my way we'd be in a real city, working out of a real building instead of this old caravan. How is anyone ever going to take us seriously if we look like a bunch of vagrants!"

Shikamaru yawned and leaned against the caravan, too tired to care. He'd gotten used to tuning out Ino's nagging.

"Are you even listening!"

"You're right," he replied.

"How can you- Wait, what?" Ino stopped, surprised to hear Shikamaru take her side. "I mean, of course I am. But right about what?"

"Wandering from town to town, that's not the way to get any business," Shikamaru explained, looking up at the sky. There was a single wispy cloud floating across the horizon, barely visible in the massive sea of blue. He was envious of that cloud, how it could just drift along without any troubles tying it down. Sometimes Shikamaru felt he had just about every trouble in the world on his shoulders. After all, it was up to him to keep Ino and Choji alive when they barely had two cents to rub together.

"We could always go back to Konoha," Choji suggested, joining in on the conversation. "We're not far from it, you know." Shikamaru and Ino both went stiff. It was still a sensitive subject for all of them.

"There's nothing for us there," Ino spoke softly. "Nothing but bad memories when we've worked so hard to forget."

"Let's just go back to Wesburg again. We can always find a few patrons there," Shikamaru quickly changed the subject. Wesburg didn't have a large population, but the people there were some of the most gullible they'd ever met. It was a good place to make a quick buck.

"We've already been there and performed for just about the whole town! Don't you think our act is getting old by now," Ino pointed out. She shifted her weight and looked at her companions. _What a ragtag bunch we are_ , she thought with a smile. They had grown up together their entire lives since their dads were all miners and best friends, but the death of their parents had brought them so close that Ino grew to think of them as her brothers. They were the only family she really had left, after all. "Sometimes I think it'd be nice to have a place to call a home, y'know?"

"We did have a home," Choji said sadly. Shikamaru patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

"It doesn't mean that's our home forever, or that we can't ever find a new one," Ino finished.

"What are you getting at?" Shikamaru asked tiredly.

"What I'm trying to say is, we're better than this! We were raised to do better and we can do better," she said confidently. In a gentler tone she added, "You both know our dads always wanted us to do more than they ever got the chance to do. They were only miners but they had good hearts, and they sent us to school every day hoping that we would be able to have a better life than they did. They gave their lives for us clinging on to that hope."

"Pops always said I could be anything," said Choji. "But all I really ever wanted to be was like him."

"Me too," Ino admitted with a smile. "I just wanted to make my dad proud... to be someone he could look at and say "Look! That's my girl! Isn't she something'..." Ino reached out and took the boys' hands and gave them a squeeze. Shikamaru's face remained hard, his eyebrows furrowed as though he was in deep concentration as he stared at the ground.

"I know this isn't what our dads wanted, but you forget that buying a place for our business costs money, rent costs money, everything costs money. And that's something we don't have," he said placidly. "Dreaming is a lot easier than doing, isn't it?"

"So then we can work a few odd jobs here and there! Shikamaru, you're smart enough you could be some sort of accountant. All you have to do is work on being more motivated and watching the clouds a little less. Choji, you could... well you could try... competitive eating?" Ino suggested.

"They would pay me to eat?" Choji's chubby face lit up.

"Sure! Maybe," she said, feigning confidence. "And I could work in a saloon or something along those lines."

"You can't work in a saloon, Ino. Don't you know how many men would try to grab at you," Shikamaru said, fiercely protective of Ino as always. On rare occasion he had stepped in to a saloon, and he could say from experience it was not a pretty sight.

"It's just an example!" Ino pouted. "At least I'm trying to come up with ideas!"

"We'll have to decide later," Choji said. "Looks like we have a customer." Ino and Shikamaru turned to see a lone man riding towards them, a serious expression on his face. Once he got up close he simply stared at the three in a way that unnerved them, as his black eyes looked strangely hollow, almost as if he wasn't fully human.

"Hello, sir, welcome to the Inoshikacho Caravan of Wonders! Let us dazzle you with feats beyond the realm of imagination and startle you with otherworldly displays," Ino recited the script she always spoke to customers, but this time the man continued to show no emotion. Ino was surprised to find herself somewhat flustered at his appearance. _He is handsome,_ she thought as she flashed him a flirty smile.

"I'm not interested," he said flatly. She was taken aback and have him a hard look. Who was this odd person? "I am looking for someone. It is very important that I find him."

"Well, he's rather forward," Ino muttered with a unsatisfactory pout, as he had given no introductions or anything. Most damaging of all to Ino's ego was the fact that the man hadn't even paid any notice to her or smiled back. Most men in these parts couldn't resist any form of woman, especially a woman as beautiful as Ino. He was hardly a man at all, though, as he looked to be not much older than they were. Either way, there was definitely something off about the stranger that the three all sensed.

"Yeah, who you looking for?" Shikamaru asked, somehow managing to sound inquisitive and disinterested simultaneously.

The man, who was clad in plain dark material and a black wide brim hat, responded by pulling a Wanted poster out of his pocket and unfolding it. He held it up for the three to see a sketch of a man. "Have you seen this person?"

"Maybe," Shikamaru said. "Or maybe not."

"I seem to misunderstand. Which is it?" the man asked robotically.

"Maybe you'd like to pay for one of our performances," Shikamaru suggested somewhat forcefully. "It might stir up our memory." Ino smiled slyly at Shikamaru's cleverness, and even Choji seemed to catch on to the genius's plan.

The man blinked and looked slightly puzzled. "I fail to see how that will make you remember."

"Listen, we're not saying anything until you pay up. Got it?" Ino said, getting more and more annoyed at the stranger's act. He nodded, finally seeming to understand what she was implying, and handed over a sum of bills that Shikamaru stuffed in his pocket.

"Prepare to be amazed by the world renowned talents of Madam Fortune, the Mysterious Zambini, and the Human Ox!" Ino announced as she went in to full showmanship mode.

"I have paid the money for an answer, not a pathetic side show," the stranger said, earning a harsh glare from Ino that made him fall silent.

"Pipe down or we tell you nothing," Ino hissed, breaking her character. She quickly snapped back to her performing and continued, "I, Madam Fortune, will now use my power of foresight to give you a glimpse in to your future."

Without saying anything else Ino stepped forward and took both of Sai's hands in hers, surprised at how cold his hands were even in the hot desert weather. He flinched slightly when she took hold of his hands, but then continued to watch her intensely with a slightly suspicious gaze. Ino ignored his reaction and closed her eyes and began to hum, occasionally rocking back and forth on her heels. It was all just an over the top part of the act, but not all of it was completely fake.

The reason that "Madam Fortune" was so popular was because of the things that Ino Yamanaka inexplicably knew about people. As far back as she could remember she had had the ability to read other's thoughts, a secret that only Shikamaru and Choji were aware of. Ino used to think that everyone was that way and it was nothing out of the ordinary, but she remembered the day she found out it wasn't normal.

 _"Sakura, why do ya hate your forehead so much?" Ino asked her best friend. The two were only six years old but were completely inseparable._

 _"Huh? How'd you know that?" the pink-haired girl blushed shyly at such a confident person discovering her biggest insecurity._

 _"You think about it all the time!" Ino answered. Sakura looked at Ino like she was crazy._

 _"I guess I thought it, but I never told you," she said. Ino furrowed her brows and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach._

 _"You mean... you can't hear my thoughts?" Ino could tell the answer was no based on the look on Sakura's face._

 _"You're so silly Ino! Imagining you can hear people thinking, that's crazy talk!" Sakura said with a giggle. Ino realized that Sakura had written it off as a joke and so she never brought it up again with her friend._

Not long after Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru were orphaned she told them her secret. It was only because she couldn't bear the agony of feeling both of their pain in combination with her own, and she had kept the secret for so long she was dying to tell anyways. It was Shikamaru's idea to use Ino's ability as well as him and Choji's own talents to their advantage, and thus the Inoshikacho Caravan of Wonders was born.

Nowadays Ino only ever read people's thoughts during a performance, because even though no one would know she was in their mind she would feel vulgar to invade someone's privacy like that.

She concentrated on the stranger, mentally reaching into his head and grasping the information inside. When she did this she had access to not only the person's thoughts, but all of their memories and feelings as well. His entire history was stretched before her, and all she had to do was piece it together. The odd thing was that she could see all the events of his life, and yet couldn't find any emotion attached to these events. It was like he had felt nothing his entire life... he was most definitely strange.

"I am seeing a baby, fresh and crying, but with no parents to speak of... an orphan," Ino finally said, still closing her eyes and pretending to be in a trance. Even though all the thoughts she read were clear, she tried to present them in a broken fashion to add showmanship value. After all, the act was nothing if it didn't have a little flair to it.

"You were put in an orphanage, no... somewhere else. A place where you were put through extreme training to become an assassin. They called you Sai, and you became the perfect weapon. It seems that amongst all your learnings, they failed to teach you anything about human emotion. Perhaps it would get in the way of killing, right? But you did not want to be an assassin, did you? I am seeing a boy, almost a man, finally leaving the place he was raised... You ended up leaving to become a bounty hunter to use your skills to track down criminals for large reward sums. Is this all correct?"

"Yes, but you told me this was a fortune telling. All you have done is tell me things I already know," Sai stated, and Ino frowned at his unimpressed tone. Most people were usually amazed when she was able to tell details of their lives, but not this guy. He was becoming more and more of a pain every second.

Ino had no ability in telling the future, so this is where she had to get creative. "Your mission will be successful, but not in the way you had planned. You will face three distinct hardships along the way, with the third being the most treacherous, but you will pass through all of your obstacles if you remember your training. Beware groups of five and avoid horses with a black spot around their eye." It was all complete rubbish, but Ino usually kept her predictions vague enough with a few misplaced warnings that most people ate it up.

"I will remember your fortune and warnings, Gypsy woman," Sai said, and Ino almost laughed at the comically serious expression on his face.

"Yeah, yeah. You're up, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru took his hands out of his pockets and stepped in front of Sai. "I am the Mysterious Zambini," he said with little pizzazz in his voice. Ino was always telling him he needed to be more showy, but it was way too much work. It was bad enough they had to follow her troublesome scripts. "Watch as I defy your expectations and- What a pain, I'm doing magic tricks."

Shikamaru hadn't bothered to memorize the script completely. After all, no one really cared about what he said. They just wanted to watch cheap tricks to distract themselves from their crappy lives. And this Sai guy didn't matter anyways. After all, the creep had already paid them. They didn't really need to perform their act at all, seeing as there was nothing more to get out of it. _I may as well get it over with or I won't hear the end of it from Ino,_ Shikamaru thought. _That'd be even more troublesome._

So he began with a simple card trick, one he usually used to warm up the crowd. He got Sai to pick a card out of the deck, look at it, then put it back. Shikamaru then shuffled all the cards around, even tossing a few of them up for dramatic flair, before pulling a card out and showing it to Sai. "This your card?"

"Yes," Sai said, unfazed by the trick. "But how did you know?'

"Magic," Shikamaru said simply. There was nothing magic to that trick, though. There wasn't even any trick to it all. All Shikamaru did was remember the position of his card, something that wasn't hard to do considering he had a photographic memory. His laziest trick by far. He followed this one with a few more, things that were simple enough to him but always seemed to drive the audience crazy for some reason. He put a coin through a closed mason jar, set Sai's wanted poster on fire and then pulled a fresh one out of his shoe, broke a chain apart and linked it back together... all stuff he'd been doing for years.

If Sai seemed unimpressed with Shikamaru's magic act, he was even more unmoved by Choji's strong man act. Choji gave it his all and accomplished impressive feats of strength, at least it looked that way. The cinder blocks he juggled were actually hollow and light as a feather, and the moment in his performance where he lifted the caravan was a lot less impressive when you knew that it was almost completely empty inside and made of light wood so as to hardly weigh anything at all. The Inoshikacho was nothing more than smoke and mirrors, after all, but it was indeed very convincing smoke and highly deceptive mirrors.

Sai didn't wait another minute before inquiring again about the man in the Wanted Poster once the show was over.

"I think I've seen the guy. Did a few tricks for him, then he headed up East," Shikamaru obliged.

"Is that all that you know?" Sai asked seriously. Shikamaru nodded in confirmation, with Choji and Ino following suit. "Then I'm headed East." Without any good bye or sign of gratitude the stranger rode off in a storm of dust.

"Well that's rude," Ino complained, wiping the dust off of her skirt and frowning at Sai's back in the distance.

"Shikamaru, why'd you tell him all that? We've never seen that guy before," Choji said.

"If we told him the truth he wouldn't have been happy we wasted his time. Who knows what he would have done. It's easier to feed him false information than to tell him nothing at all," the genius explained.

"Nice work, Shikamaru," Ino said. "But next time you perform stick to the script!"

Shikamaru let Ino scold him, for he was too deep in thought to care. There was something about the man in the Wanted poster that struck a chord with him. He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the guy, but that couldn't be possible. The only people in the world he really knew now were Ino and Choji, and all the ones he knew in the past were gone... weren't they?

* * *

The sun was preparing to set on Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's third day since leaving Konoha, and the trio was quickly learning just how desolate it was beyond their little piece of the world. They had already gone through a large portion of the rations and found themselves exhausted at the end of each day. Three days of straight riding and the scenery had barely changed. There were miles and miles of flat land with nothing more than a few trees and mountains to speak of and not a single other person in sight.

Naruto and Sakura weren't exactly the best company either. Naruto talked endlessly and was always challenging Sasuke to trivial things. Yesterday he had challenged Sasuke to see who could collect the most firewood when they stopped for the night. Not only did Naruto fail to collect more than a couple twigs, but he ended up getting bit by a snake when he mistook it for a branch. At least Sakura proved herself useful for once when she healed Naruto's wound with the medical supplies she carried. Still, Sasuke thought that it might not have been a complete loss if the snake bite had been deadly.

Sakura was less annoying than Naruto, but she still talked way too much for Sasuke's taste. He was used to being alone and not having to listen to extraneous conversation, but it was even worse that she dwelled on such dull topics like milking cows and all the names she had for the baby chicks back home. Not to mention the fact that she was always looking at Sasuke like she expected something out of him. He didn't really mind catching her emerald eyes focused on him, but the way she blushed and giggled made Sasuke groan. Completely pathetic.

"We should be stopping soon," Sasuke spoke as the sun went lower and lower in the sky.

"What, you're tired already Sasuke!" Naruto grinned. "I could go on like this for hours more!"

"Sasuke's right, it'll get dark soon," Sakura said, causing Naruto's shoulders to sink. Him and Sakura had practically grown up together, and she still just agreed with everything Sasuke said! Sakura suddenly stopped and squinted at the horizon. "Wait a second, what is that out there?"

Naruto and Sasuke followed Sakura's gaze to something that looked like an old wagon out in the distance. They picked up the pace and were soon able to make out a few figures standing around the wagon.

"Wait!" Sakura yelled as Naruto and Sasuke sped ahead. "Maybe we should think this through! We don't know if those people are friendly or not."

"We're about to find out," Sasuke said, and Sakura had no choice but to follow the two boys towards the mysterious strangers.

* * *

 **If you like the story, have any comments, suggestions, please leave a review! Would love to hear what ya'll have to say (:**


	4. Konoha Reunion

As Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke rode up to the wagon it was clear the strangers had taken notice of them, too. They were standing in attention, almost expectantly. As soon as the three were in range a blonde stepped out and began to speak.

"Hello, and welcome to the Inoshikacho Caravan of Wonders! Let us dazzle you with feats beyond the realm of imagination and startle you with otherworldly displays!" Sakura stopped and her mouth fell open in shock, and at nearly the same time the blonde had the same reaction.

"Ino?"

"Sakura!" Sakura jumped off her horse and ran to her old friend as they embraced tightly. The buck-toothed, rosy cheeked blonde she knew from the past was gone, almost a woman now with impossibly long hair and soft blue eyes. Sakura was a little embarrassed that Ino had become so beautiful and womanly while she was still boyish and gangly, but either way she was thrilled to see her childhood best friend.

"Wait, hold on!" Naruto interjected as he also got off his horse. "I saw you three that night! There's no way you survived."

"We could ask you the same thing," Shikamaru said, cocking his eyebrow at the bold blond. He remembered what a pain Naruto was in the days of the past, but he had always felt felt bad for the way everyone had treated him.

"I was sort of in a tree at the time... it's a long story," Naruto said with a sheepish grin. "The point is, the Akatsuki killed just about everyone that night, slaughtered them! So how could three kids have gotten out alive, especially when you guys were just running around in plain sight!"

"We were running away," Choji explained. "Our dads saved us. They were all we had, but.." Choji stopped as tears started to roll out of his eyes.

"Our moms had all died in that flu bout back when we were really young, so all we had were our dads," Ino continued Choji's sentiment. "We were outside playing together when the Akatsuki rode up and we all froze. It was the scariest thing! All these riders in black with torches and guns, and what were we supposed to do!" Her voice raised as she continued talking and it was clear it was a subject still sensitive to her as well.

"The point is, our dads ran out to us and fought the Akatsuki off so we could run and escape," Shikamaru finished. "And we never turned back."

"So you've been out here in the middle of nowhere all this time?" Sakura asked.

"When we first ran off we didn't stop until we reached the next town over, but once we were there all we could do was beg off of strangers. It was humiliating," Ino explained with a frown. "But eventually this old man who ran a carnival took us in, so long as we worked for him."

"When he was having his shows he would have us go around the audience and pickpocket them for the old man," Shikamaru said. Their past wasn't the most reputable, but hey, they'd survived and that was what was important.

"So that's what you guys do? Petty thieves?" Sasuke spoke up for the first time with a cold look on his face.

"We did what we had to do," Shikamaru said. "That's all in the past now anyways. After awhile the old man died and we got his caravan and mule, so since then we've had our own carnival."

"Ehhh... this is it?" Naruto asked as he pointed towards the dilapidated wagon haphazardly strewn with a banner that advertised the Inoshikacho Caravan of Wonders.

"Don't be so judgmental, Naruto," Ino complained as she crossed her arms. "Some day we're gonna have our own legitimate business in a fancy building, no- theater! With crowds and crowds of people waiting to see us! Just you wait."

"We've delayed here long enough," Sasuke said impatiently. "We must get going."

"Hey, wait!" Choji said. "Where are you guys going?"

"We're off to find the Akatsuki and put an end to their terrorism!" said Naruto enthusiastically.

"They killed my whole family with no mercy. And that's what I'm going to do to them," Sasuke added. "They deserve to feel the same pain they made me feel. Let's go." Sasuke turned and started to ride off when Ino jumped in front of his horse and waved her arms.

"Hey there, no need to be so hasty!" Ino said with a nervous laugh. "Let's talk about this!"

"Sasuke, maybe we can spend the night here! It's late anyways," Sakura said. Sasuke looked at the disappearing sun and frowned, knowing that Sakura was right. Without another word he got off his horse and hooked it up to the caravan.

"You'll stay then?" Ino asked excitedly.

"What do you have to eat?" Sasuke asked in way of answering her question.

"Hold up, don't make yourself so comfortable!" Shikamaru objected.

 _Shikamaru, what are you doing!_ Ino communicated to Shikamaru. Along with reading minds she had the ability to telecommunicate... it of course made no sense to Ino that she had these abilities but she tried not to dwell on that too much. She supposed it was some sort of blessing.

 _We can't let these guys stay, we barely even have enough to feed ourselves._ Ino's mind tricks still kind of freaked Shikamaru out, but there were advantages to being able to communicate without other people hearing. Like now for instance, even if the others were giving them strange looks for the way they were intensely staring at each other.

 _How can you say that! They're from Konoha, too, they're practically our kin!_

 _If they stay the night they'll eat all our food then leave in the morning and we'll probably never see them again._

 _Well... what if we go with them? There's nothing for us here anyways._

Unlike Ino, Shikamaru was willing to admit defeat in an argument, and in this one he finally saw Ino's way. _Ino, you're brilliant._

 _I am?_

"You can stay tonight," Shikamaru spoke aloud to the three travelers. "But we're coming with you... wherever you're going."

"We are?" Choji said, left out from the telepathic communication.

 _Choji... I spoke to Shikamaru and he has a plan. The Akatsuki are loaded. If we take them down we'll have enough money to finally get our own place! And those bastards will finally get what they deserve,_ Ino spoke to Choji.

"Why do you guys keep staring at each other? It's getting really weird," Naruto said, scratching his head. "But of course you can come with us! The more people the better chance we have, right Sasuke?"

"If any of you get in my way I'll leave you behind," Sasuke said with his characteristic stony gaze.

"Don't mind him, he's more of a lone wolf type," Naruto said cheerfully. "I'm sure you'll be a lot better company than him."

"Looks like it's all settled then! We'll set out tomorrow morning," Choji said. The boys began to unpack their things and prepare for the night while Ino and Sakura had much needed catching up to do. Once they got to talking it was almost like the girls were never apart.

"Hey Sakura, what's with that Sasuke guy? He's so serious and gloomy," Ino whispered to her old friend.

"His whole family was murdered, of course he's not gonna be a cheerful guy," Sakura replied.

"Yeah I know, but it _was_ 10 years ago! We've all had bad stuff happen to us, but be seems a little crazy, know what I mean? He has that look in his eyes like he could kill someone even," Ino gossiped and Sakura couldn't help but smile as she was reminded of the old Ino. As kids she had always bossed all the boys in their class around, and if anyone was out of line she would call them out for it. Sakura had just gone along with everything Ino said, usually happy to simply be included.

"He's really not a bad guy. Just misunderstood I think."

Ino looked at Sasuke and seemed to think for a minute. "Come to think of it, he's pretty handsome, isn't he," she observed.

"Well I don't know about that," Sakura said with a nervous smile and slight blush that didn't go unnoticed by Ino.

"Hey, you like him don't you!" Ino whispered enthusiastically.

"I barely know the guy! And from what I do know he's always quiet and moody," Sakura said. With an embarrassed giggle she added, "But he is pretty cute."

"Why is it that handsome men are always the rudest! Just today I met a guy I was nearly swooning over, but the minute he opened his mouth I wanted to gag!" Ino complained. "Us girls have it pretty hard, don't we, having to put up with silly men all the time. And of course we're expected to pretend that they know best. Yeah right!" Sakura laughed at her friend's rant. The girl certainly could talk, that hadn't changed one bit.

The eccentric group ended up sharing a few cans of beans for their dinner, some of the last of the rations, and slept soon after to try and subdue their groaning stomachs. The girls shared the caravan while the boys were all haphazardly arranged on the desert ground in a tangle of blankets. As uncomfortable as their positions were, they all slept like rocks and didn't wake until late in the morning.

"Hey Ino, Sakura," Shikamaru called to the girls in the caravan. "Time to get up."

Ino opened the curtain and stuck her head out. "Is there breakfast?"

"I wish. All we have left is a few cans we're trying to save," Shikamaru said.

Ino groaned. "How is anyone supposed to live on an empty stomach like this!"

"You think you got it bad, you should see Choji. I've never seen the guy worse off."

"Maybe it's good for him! I'm always telling him he should lose a few pounds," Ino replied.

"Hey Shikamaru, me and Sasuke decided we should go hunting!" Naruto had suddenly appeared by the caravan with a slightly sleepy expression on his face. He was definitely not a morning person.

Sakura poked her head out of the curtain next to Ino. "Good idea! I'm coming too."

"I don't know, we were thinking just us guys would go," Naruto said. "Then you two girls could cook whatever we catch."

"Are you serious!" Sakura yelled, going in to what Naruto called her "scary place". "What am I, some sort of housewife! I've hunted tons of times, in fact I'm sure I'm a way better shot than you Naruto!"

"Uh... please don't hurt me Sakura," Naruto slowly inched away from the angry pink-haired girl. He was probably about five seconds away from a punch in the face. Just when Naruto was preparing for inevitable pain Sasuke appeared beside him.

"We need at least a couple of us to stay behind to defend the camp. If you're such a good shot maybe even you could handle that," Sasuke said with a finality to his statement.

"Oh, alright," Sakura relinquished. About an hour later the four guys had all left on the three horses, with Choji stuck riding the old mule.

"What did I tell you about boys, they always think they know best," Ino told Sakura as they worked on cleaning the campsite that had been left a huge mess. "Trust me, I've been stuck with them my whole life."

"I don't want them to think I'm useless," Sakura said with determination in her voice. "The whole reason I came on this journey was to try to prove that I could do something worthwhile with my life. I was always afraid I'd end up like my parents... stuck on that farm with no purpose or meaning."

Ino was going to say that Sakura was at least lucky to have parents, but she would hate to sound like she felt sorry for herself. She really wasn't the type. "I'm sure you'll do something great some day, Sakura... You've really grown a lot. I remember when we were younger you could be so shy, but now you're able to stand up for yourself and everything. You really have blossomed while we've been apart," Ino said with a sentimental smile.

"But.. you also have to remember what's important," she added after some thought.

"What do you mean?"

"If you want to accomplish a feat simply to prove a point, you may be missing out on what really matters," Ino clarified. "Naruto and Sasuke are important to you, right? Get stronger so you can protect your friends, not so you can prove a point."

"Since when did you get so wise, Ino-pig?" Sakura teased, bringing back her old nickname for the blonde who playfully pushed her in response.

"And when did you get such a big forehead!" The two broke out laughing like they were 7 years old again.

Their laughter paused suddenly when they heard the earth rattling sound of hoofbeats approaching closer. Sakura ran and got her gun out of her pack right as a group of about 30 men surrounded the two girls. They were all dressed in what looked like animal skins and had long hair they wore loose. Even worse, every single one of them had a weapon aimed at Ino and Sakura, while Sakura shakily held her gun and looked back and forth between them all.

One of the men stepped off his horse and walked towards the girls. As he got closer they noticed he had strange white, pupil less eyes, as though he were blind. They had never seen anything like it.

"Stop right there, or I'll shoot!" Sakura threatened in a wavering voice that failed to halt the man's progress. The man got closer and closer and was finally close enough that he put Sakura's shaky gun down and took it from her. He then yelled something in another language to the other men, who immediately made moves to grab Ino and Sakura and lift them up on horses with them, galloping away as quickly as they had arrived.

"I-I'm sorry Ino, I couldn't do it," Sakura said to her friend next to her. Ino barely heard her, though, too focused on trying to read the thoughts of their captors. There were so many of them that it was hard to hone in on one person. Instead, she could only read a few fragmented thoughts among all the men but all it did was serve to confuse her even more. Of all the minds she read, every single one of them felt _fear_.

 _I should be the one who's afraid,_ she thought begrudgingly. Completely helpless, she hated the feeling.

Something went off in Ino head as she realized she wasn't completely useless in this situation. She had to tell Shikamaru what had happened so they boys could come rescue them. She hated even imagining herself as a damsel in distress that needed a man's help, but in this situation she had to let go of her pride. It was the only way.

The only problem was that she wasn't sure if she would be able to connect to Shikamaru from such a distance, especially since she had no clear idea of where he was. She closed her eyes and searched, then gave it a shot. _Shikamaru, if you can hear me you need to help. Me and Sakura have been kidnapped._ For the rest of the ride she continued broadcasting her thoughts to Shikamaru, describing the directions they were going. She had no idea if she had reached him at all, but if she had he was their only chance.

Finally they ended up at what looked to be a village, and Ino was mentally exhausted and too tired to protest when she was lifted off a horse and led through the arrangement of teepee houses to a large pole in the center of the village. Sakura had gone white as a sheet and also made little protest as the men who had captured them tied their wrists to the pole. Just as soon as they were put on the pole they were abandoned as the men all headed off in another direction and left the girls alone.

"This is all my fault," Sakura said to Ino as a tear escaped her eye. "I've been waiting for a chance to prove myself, and the moment one comes up I just mess up everything."

"Don't feel so sorry for yourself, Sakura. Imagine what would have happened if you had shot that gun. Those guys would be on us in a second," Ino comforted her friend.

"Either way we're probably dead now." Sakura was completely out of spirits, leaning limply against the pole and looking down.

"Sakura, I don't understand it, but those men... they were scared too. They didn't want to kill us," Ino said.

Sakura looked up and gave the blonde an odd look. "How do you know?"

"Body language," Ino lied. "I make my living as a fortune teller. You have to be able to notice things like that."

Ino and Sakura sat in silence for awhile, both exhausted and with no will to fight their current condition. Whatever happened was out of their hands now.

"Um... excuse me," a small voice whispered. Ino and Sakura opened their weary eyes to see a girl with a gentle face kneeling in front of them. She was dressed in the same animal skins that the men had been wearing and had the same white eyes, but to their surprise she was there alone and holding a small parcel in her hands.

"I brought you some food," she said shyly, unfolding the parcel to reveal some cooked meat and berries.

"Thank you, but... we can't really eat with our hands tied up," Sakura said.

The girl blushed and held up the food to Sakura's mouth. "May I?" Sakura nodded and the girl complied, then gave some food to Ino. Eventually the food was gone and the girls felt much better.

"Do not worry," the girl said as she took the parcel and stood up. "You are safe." And with that she left as soundlessly as she had arrived

"See Sakura? The girl says not to worry," Ino pointed out.

"Yeah? And what if that food was poison?" Sakura said.

"Then we're dead I suppose, but earlier you said we were dead no matter what anyways. So may as well die with a full stomach," Ino teased Sakura with a laugh, and she succeeded in making the pink-haired girl crack a small smile.

* * *

 **Thanks for all the reviews/favorites/follows! Every single one motivates me to get a chapter out that much faster to see people are actually interested in this story.**

 **I know not a lot happened in this chapter, but the next chapter should be out in a couple of days, and I promise that one will be pretty exciting. Take a second and leave a review if you liked the story or have any comments/suggestions about what you would like! (:**


	5. The Hyuga Princess

"Hinata, where did you go?" Hiashi demanded of his daughter when she quietly slipped in to the room, hoping to go unnoticed.

"I was tending to the horses," Hinata lied nervously. She wasn't used to disobeying her father, but when she had heard of the prisoners the men of the village had brought back she couldn't help but worry for them as all she could think was how afraid and confused they must be. Even though Hinata had heard many stories about the dangers of outsiders, she couldn't believe that anyone was all bad.

When she snuck some food out to them her heart really reached out to the girls. They had looked so defeated and worn out sitting at that dreadful pole in the hot sun. Hinata knew it wasn't right that they were being held against their will, but what could she really do. It was her father, the chief's, will after all.

"I don't want you wandering off any more," Hiashi warned. "As princess of the Hyuga tribe you face countless dangers every time you leave my sight."

"I am sorry," she said faintly. "...But... Do you think maybe keeping prisoners might bring trouble here?"

"My daughter, you are too kind for your own good. All it does is make you weak and blinds you to anything but your own fantasies. You think too much of others when your sole duty is to our tribe!" the chief chided. "So long as we are here there will always be trouble, regardless of the prisoners we keep. If anything, this is our chance to end any future trouble."

Hinata looked down and rubbed her hands together anxiously. It was not easy for her to stand up against her father, who by nature was a stern and intimidating man. Regardless of the way he spoke, Hinata knew that he really did want what was best for the Hyuga tribe, even if he was somewhat misguided. "How will this do any good?" she finally asked timidly.

"Neji and the other men saw a group of strangers nearby with many guns. Those girls were with them," he answered with a deep frown.

"How can you tell... these girls are bad?"

"The one with the pink hair pointed a gun at your cousin," Hiashi replied, causing Hinata to gasp lightly. "Is that not reason enough?"

"Perhaps... perhaps she was just trying to protect herself," Hinata reasoned.

"A stranger points a gun at your own family, and you step up to defend her!" the man yelled, growing angry at the timid girl. "You are well aware of what happened the last time strangers were near our land and yet you continue to fool yourself in to seeing good where there is none, you foolish child. You are next in line to lead our people, but as of now I fear that the day that comes will be our tribe's downfall." Her father's words were harsher than they had ever been and Hinata had to bite her lip to prevent the tears from flowing out of her eyes. She only ever meant well, but in doing so she feared she constantly brought shame to her proud family.

"I am sorry I disappoint you, Father," she whispered before running outside, ignoring her father's wishes for her to stay indoors. She needed to get away and think on her own.

"Hinata!" her father yelled after her, but his cries fell on deaf ears as Hinata was already hurrying across her village.

"Lady Hinata," another voice sounded, and this time Hinata acknowledged it as she turned to see her cousin Neji approaching her. She quickly wiped her tears and looked at the floor to avoid his gaze. Though they were linked in blood the pair were not particularly close. Neji was always somewhat cold and distant and spent much of his time training as a warrior, much to Hiashi's pride. Hiashi's brother, Neji's father, had also been a great warrior, but his reckless nature had eventually led to his downfall in battle. Since then Hiashi had taken Neji under his wing and trained him as though he was his own son. It was no secret that the old chief favored Neji to take over his position, though Hinata was the rightful heir.

Hinata was not bothered by the threat of losing her position in the tribe. The only thing that truly upset her was the way she disappointed her father. As much as she tried to be strong, it was clear that she was not like him and Neji. The only thing she had in her favor was that she possessed what the Hyuga called "spirit eyes", the trademark of the royal line that allowed for extended and perfect vision. It was a trait that had been handed down for centuries and had been preserved through arranged marriages between those who possessed the special white eyes. Because of the necessary selective breeding it had always been implied that some day Hinata and Neji would be married, and though they never openly discussed it they were both well aware of their fate.

"Neji... what is it," Hinata said, braving a look at her cousin's face. His usual stony expression was marred by what could only be dissatisfaction, his pale eyes distant and his mouth ambivalent.

"You have been crying," he stated. "It is not good for the princess to wear her emotions so openly. You may worry our people if you walk about in that manner."

"Oh..." she said quietly, a gentle pink blush creeping on her cheeks. As it was her duty to be a figure the people could look up to, she knew she needed to be more careful about hiding her emotions. _I must appear strong and stoic like Father,_ she thought as she straightened her back and looked Neji in the eye. "It will not happen again."

"Good," he said, but there seemed to be some warning in his eyes that frightened Hinata. "You would also be wise to stay away from the prisoners."

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. Neji must have been watching from a distant with his spirit eyes as she had visited the girls. "Yes, cousin," she answered simply.

She left Neji as quickly as she had left her father and continued walking across the village. Hinata felt so _trapped_ in her life after 16 years of failing to meet her father's expectations and being the disappointment of her proud tribe. Every time she was knocked down it simply became harder and harder to get back up and keep trying, but she knew that it was exactly what she needed to do. Perhaps she just wasn't cut out to be a leader like her father.

She had walked the entire length of the village and was on the wooded outskirts when her keen eyes picked up movement about 50 yards away. With fast reflexes Hinata dove in to a nearby brush and sat completely still as her spirit eyes followed a group of strange men moving towards the edge of the wood. They were being led by a tall skinny boy with dark hair bunched together in a spiky ponytail. Just behind him an eager-looking blond was nearly bouncing ahead, making a huge racket in the dry brush.

"Naruto, will you shut up," a moody looking boy with black hair whispered threateningly to his noisy companion. Hinata had to cover her mouth to stop from giggling at the funny way the boy named Naruto moved so recklessly. Behind the three boys a chubbier boy followed, breathing heavily from the excursion.

"Shikamaru, are we there yet?" the chubby boy huffed in what he must have thought to be a quiet tone.

"It's right out of these woods," the boy in lead answered as he pointed up ahead.

"Who would have guessed you're so good at tracking!" Naruto said. "I can't believe you could track the girls all the way out to here." _The girls._ These must have been the strange men that Hinata's father had spoke of. They definitely did seem strange, but they certainly didn't seem to be dangerous at all. Still, Hinata found herself to be a little frightened. She had never met a man outside of the Hyuga tribe and didn't know what to expect. Besides, her father would be furious if he found out she spoke to them, so she kept to her hiding spot and said nothing.

"Well what do we do now?" the chubby boy asked aloud. "Do we just go ask for them back?"

"Don't be stupid," the moody kid replied. "With the four of us against an entire village we'd be dead in a minute."

"Weren't you the one who thought you could take down an entire gang of bandits alone?" said the blond.

"Would you shut up Naruto! Don't talk about things you could never understand!"

"Both of you quiet down. We need a plan," the spiky-haired boy said finally. While they were distracted in their discussion Hinata took her opportunity to leap out of the bush silently and run back to the village. She had to warn her father of the strangers, even if he did get mad at her for running away again. Perhaps if she spoke to Hiashi she could persuade him to resolve the conflict with the strangers peacefully so that no one would end up hurt. She knew that she had to do right, for at least this one time in her life.

When Hinata arrived back to the village she was surprised to see that many of the tribe's strongest warriors were moving about as though they were preparing for battle. Some nodded at her in passing and she just stared back with a sinking feeling in her stomach. _Of course,_ she thought. _The sentries must have already spotted the strangers._ The village always had several sentries who possessed spirit eyes positioned on the perimeter of the village, and no doubt they had spotted the group even long before Hinata had. It wouldn't have been hard considering what a racket the four boys had been making, as they did not possess the Hyuga way of moving through even the nosiest of landscapes in complete silence.

Hinata broke out in to a run and ran in to her father's teepee where she saw him standing with Neji, who was prepared for battle like the other young men of the village. Hiashi immediately turned on her with a disapproving gaze.

"Just when I told you to stay in my sight, you disobeyed me again," he growled angrily. "There are strangers on our border and you insist on running around with no boundaries!"

"I am sorry but... Father, you need to stop this battle," Hinata implored of her chief. "It is just four men out there... they only want their friends back."

"Yes, and how do you think they'll get them back? With guns and bloodshed," the stubborn man explained.

"We must stop them while they're still at the border," Neji added. "If they reach the village it may become a massacre."

"If you handle it this way, it may very well be a massacre!" Hinata was finding confidence she had never possessed and was surprised even at herself to hear such strong words coming out of her mouth.

"Go and stay with your mother. This is not up to you," Hiashi commanded coldly. Hinata knew her father was a stubborn proud man and would not yield once his mind was made up. If anything was to change it would have to be by her own hands.

"Yes sir. I am sorry for disobeying you," she said solemnly, which seemed to please the man. This was the daughter he was used to, meek and obedient. Hinata walked out calmly, breaking into a run the moment she was outside. She dodged the gathering crowds of people and weaved through the teepees, not stopping even when she reached the edge of wood and approached where the strangers were in hiding.

* * *

"What are they doing? Why are all the men getting ready for battle?" Sakura spoke aloud. Ino sat up and opened her eyes as she took in the bustling display of warriors.

"Their weapons are rather rudimentary, aren't they," Ino spoke in a slightly haughty tone. She was surprised to see that the men carried around spears and bows and arrows rather than the more effective guns.

"Guns or not, they could still kill you," Sakura said in a huff. "But why haven't they killed us! I don't get it. They've barely even looked at us since they tied us up here, other than stationing that guard over there."

"Didn't you ever consider they're _not_ going to kill us," Ino said tiredly.

"Then what's the point of keeping us here!" Sakura aimed a glare at the guard, whose icy expression didn't change.

"Perhaps they found us pretty and want to marry us to two of their men," Ino teased with an impish smile. "I might not mind so much if I was matched with the fine white-eyed man who took us here."

"INO! Don't joke about that!"

"I'm only kidding, Sakura. I'm as scared as you, you know, even if I don't show it," she admitted.

"Who says I'm scared!" Sakura nudged Ino with her shoulder and with effort flashed a small smile. "Anyways, there's still some hope. By now the guys will have noticed we're gone and will go out looking for us. I don't know the other three well, but I know for certain that Naruto would never give up on finding us."

"That's right... they will be looking," Ino spoke quietly to herself. Was there a chance that Shikamaru had received her message? It was definitely a long shot, but right now it was the best chance they had of being rescued.

 _Shikamaru... if you can hear me, I want you to know that me and Sakura are safe. We are tied to a pole in the center of the village. There's guards all around so it would be too dangerous to try and take us by force. You'll need a distraction or some way to get the guards to leave... Oh who am I kidding, I'm probably talking to no one... But if you are there, please be careful. There's a lot of men with weapons here and I don't know why, but I'm getting a bad feeling from all of it._

With a sudden impulse Ino added, _If it's too risky you need to leave us here. Me and Sakura can fend for ourselves, I promise. If anything happened to you and Choji, my brothers... I don't know what I would do. So don't go and do anything dumb, you stupid genius!_

Even if Shikamaru never got her message it comforted Ino to speak to him in her head as they had so often done in the past. Since birth her and Shikamaru had shared something of a special bond that even Choji could see. It was almost comical that a lazy genius like him and a bossy loudmouth like her could have such a connection, and it was even more comical when you threw in an overweight softy. Either way it was gratifying to have a small but dysfunctional family in the form of three polar opposite orphans.

"They'll come for us. Don't you worry, Sakura," Ino said, though it was more to comfort herself rather than her pink-haired friend who seemed content to lean against the pole and stare up at the clouds. Ino smiled as she joined in the cloud watching. _Maybe Shikamaru was on to something all along... watching the clouds is pretty relaxing._ It was certainly better than thinking of the current mess their lives were, so Ino watched and forgot as she tried to blow her worries away just as the cloud was.

* * *

Shikamaru was sitting alone with his eyes closed in meditation as he racked his brain for some sort of plan, anything. Negotiating with the tribe was one possibility, but negotiations usually required a trade off and the group had nothing to offer. Sneaking in to the village at night while everyone was sleeping was another possibility, but if a single one of them was discovered it could turn bad quickly. No matter which way he looked at it he couldn't figure out a way around the problem. The other side simply possessed too many pawns while Shikamaru had no pieces to work with.

Nearby voices broke him out of his concentration, and with one eye peeking open he saw some girl talking to the other guys. By the looks of it she was from the village, but it didn't look like she wanted to attack them. She was just standing there saying something out of earshot.

 _What a pain this is all turning about to be,_ Shikamaru thought as he stood up with a slight groan and walked over to where the other guys were. "Who's the girl?" he asked nonchalantly. Shikamaru caught a look at his companion's faces and noticed a general consensus of confusion on their faces. His lips turned up ever so slightly in semblance of amusement. "Seems like you guys don't even know the answer to that."

"I am here to help, but for me to do that you should... I mean, you must pretend to kidnap me," the girl said in a weirdly quiet voice. For Shikamaru it was odd to meet a female who didn't scream and act demanding like most girls he had met, but he wasn't sure what to think of her either.

"Look, lady... It might be your people's thing to kidnap people but that's not really our style. We just want to get our friends back," Naruto said abashedly. The girl looked down for a second and seemed to lose some of her boldness, only to quickly turn her gaze up again and run in to Naruto's arms. The boy stiffened in shock and looked down at the girl like she was crazy.

"I'm sorry but- Please hold me like you have me captive," she said, and Naruto hesitantly obeyed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders somewhat loosely. His arms just barely served to cover the bright red shade her face had taken on.

"Naruto, you don't know if we can trust her," Sasuke said suspiciously as he narrowed his eyes at the strange girl. "Why would she want it to appear that we have kidnapped her, unless she means to frame us to incite anger in her tribe."

"I promise... that's not it," she said softly.

"It's about time you explain then," Shikamaru said impatiently. She was turning out to be a pain like just about any other girl.

"I'm sorry... I only meant to help," she stammered before explaining her intent. "If you want your friends back you will need something to negotiate with... like me."

Just then Ino's voice appeared in Shikamaru's head: _Shikamaru... if you can hear me, I want you to know that me and Sakura are safe. We are tied to a pole in the center of the village. There's guards all around so it would be too dangerous to try and take us by force. You'll need a distraction or some way to get the guards to leave... Oh who am I kidding, I'm probably talking to no one... But if you are there, please be careful. There's a lot of men with weapons here and I don't know why, but I'm getting a bad feeling from all of it._

It was the first he had heard from Ino since she had been broadcasting her thoughts to him when she had first been brought to the village. Her thoughts had been what had led him to this point, though he had convinced Sasuke and Naruto that he was simply an expert tracker. Choji knew better, of course.

After a pause one last thought of Ino's appeared in his head: _If it's too risky you need to leave us here. Me and Sakura can fend for ourselves, I promise. If anything happened to you and Choji, my brothers... I don't know what I would do. So don't go and do anything dumb, you stupid genius!_ Shikamaru felt like groaning at the troublesome woman's lecture, but instead he couldn't help but smile. In spite of all his complaining he was glad to know she was safe.

"The girl is on to something," Shikamaru said finally as all the faces turned to look at him. "I have a plan."

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Ya'll are the best (:**

 **Some have been wondering about pairings in this story, but the truth is I'm a little reluctant to say anything since I haven't even firmly decided what I'm gonna do! I have ideas of pairings that probably will happen, but ultimately this story does not revolve around pairings. Any pairings I add will probably be built slowly and subtly, so if you don't like any of them it ultimately won't have a huge effect on what the story is as a whole. More than likely some of the pairings will only be implied or just have hints throughout the story. I want to focus on building the plot and the characters as individuals before I get too far in to that stuff. I will say... any pairings that happen will most likely be from canon. I am open to suggestions, though. Let me know in a review what pairings you guys would like to see and who knows, I might just put it in there.**

 **Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I really enjoyed writing about Hinata because I think a lot of people don't give her enough credit for how determined and tough she is, even if she is shy. She's really a very strong character. The next update will be out before Friday... until then thanks for reading!**


	6. The Last Goodbye

"Hey all you lowlifes, I have your princess!" Naruto yelled in the direction of the village after walking out of the brush with Hinata pinned in his arms. Even though he was supposed to be holding her prisoner he kept a very loose grip on her, fearing he would harm her in addition to being a little embarrassed at their close proximity. Naruto didn't have a lot of experience with girls other than Sakura, who could barely count as one, so it was a bit of an uncomfortable situation. It didn't help that the girl was so weird, like the way she ran up to them out of nowhere and how she acted all shy. But it really did seem like she wanted to help and Naruto admired that.

"They are coming," Hinata said so quietly that Naruto almost missed it. Just like that a crowd of men slowly emerged with countless weapons aimed at the boy. Though they were her own kin the sight was so terrifying it was enough to make Hinata squirm, but seeing the way Naruto stood his ground helped her to remain strong.

"That's right! Here she is!" Naruto taunted, baiting the Hyuga's just as they had planned. "If you make any move she'll get a knife through her back!" He was bluffing of course, though he really did have a knife to her back. Hinata kept saying it was important that it all looked exactly like a real hostage situation due to the Hyuga's crazy eyes or something like that. Naruto had zoned out during the planning so some of the details were a little fuzzy.

A stern looking man who shared Hinata's pale eyes came forward out of the group with no weapon in hand, though his intense stare seemed to stab deeper than any arrow could. He made a motion to the men who were ready to shoot and they all put their bows down. "What would you ask for in exchange for my daughter? Money? Guns? We have none of it to offer," the regal man spoke, surprisingly calm in the situation.

"All I want is my friends you took, and then you'll get your princess back," Naruto answered.

"Not possible."

"What! What do you mean it's not possible!" Naruto yelled. "You have no right to them! They're my friends and I promised I'd save them no matter what, even if I have to fight every single last one of you!"

The chief looked slightly amused amidst his calm demeanor. "Just you, against all my men? Your temper seems to cloud your judgment."

"I know fighting you probably wouldn't be the smartest thing to do, but no one's ever called me smart before anyways. But smart or not, if that's what it takes I'll do it, even if I die trying! There's no way I'd ever give up on them, so you'd better give them back or I'll raise hell for you!"

* * *

"Ino, wake up!" Sakura whispered to the girl who had dozed off.

"What could be so important," Ino mumbled as she reluctantly opened her eyes. "We're still tied to this damn pole, aren't we?"

"Well look around, the village seems empty. There's no guards or anything any more."

This news quickly woke Ino up and she turned in every direction to test Sakura's claim. "They're gone!"

"I told you already, didn't I?" Sakura huffed.

Ino closed her eyes and began to concentrate, searching the area for any thoughts. She did catch some snippets of information floating in someone's head, but it definitely wasn't from their captors. _Shikamaru, Choji,_ Ino sent her thoughts in what she now knew to be their direction. _Go toward the center of the village to find us. No one is watching, but hurry before they come back!_

"Don't go back to sleep again!" Sakura hissed, noticing the way Ino's eyes were closed once again.

Ino promptly opened her eyes and allowed herself a sly smile. "We're getting out of this place, don't you see? The others must have created some sort of diversion, and now they're here to get us out of this mess!"

"You really think so?" Sakura asked, and just as she spoke Choji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke appeared in front of them. "Sasuke! How did you guys find us?" Ino exchanged a knowing grin with Choji and Shikamaru. They had managed to keep Ino's ability a secret- for now, at least.

"It's not like it matters, we're here now," Sasuke said. He pulled a knife out of his belt and started to saw away at the ropes holding Sakura. Shikamaru did the same thing for Ino while Choji stood guard.

"This was all _your_ plan, wasn't it Shikamaru?" Ino turned her head to ask her friend as he ran his knife back and forth along the ropes, moving slowly so as not to risk cutting her.

"I guess," he answered indifferently. "Some weird girl ran out of the village and helped us with creating a diversion, then we figured out the rest."

"You went to a lot of trouble just to save us." Ino smiled proudly and couldn't help but be satisfied at herself for leading them here.

"Well me and Choji can't exactly run a carnival without you telling us what to do. As troublesome as you are, it would be a lot more troublesome not to have you around," he replied just as both the ropes frayed and snapped.

"And then you'd also have to change the name to the Shikacho Caravan of Wonders, and that sounds terrible!" Ino joked as she stood up and stretched her limbs. Sasuke had finished cutting Sakura's binds without a word, and the group was about to leave when they turned and found an arrow pointed directly at them. Choji had almost walked right in to it, but stopped just short of it piercing through his forehead.

The same man with cold white eyes who had captured them was now in position to kill the whole group. The more they looked around the more men they saw emerging with similar weapons pointed straight at them. "You really thought you pathetic misfits could outsmart us? I was watching the whole time."

"Uh oh," Choji uttered. "Got any other plans, Shikamaru?" Shikamaru was now regretting their choice of leaving the guns back in the caravan. He knew that if they were caught their guns would be stolen, but he would feel a lot better now if he had a gun he could point back at them.

"Here's a plan: let's follow their orders and not die," he said.

Choji gulped loudly and nodded. "Sounds like a good plan."

* * *

Hiashi and Naruto continued to stare each other down, neither of them willing to give in to the other's will. "You and your 'friends' have threatened the safety of this tribe. Why should I reward you for this?" Hiashi continued.

Naruto didn't know what to think. He may not have ever had a family, but he had always thought that a father would do anything to save his daughter, and yet the chief remained obtuse. "How can you be willing to throw away your daughter's life just because of your own pride!" he growled. "It's people like you that make me sick, people who have everything but are too blind to see it."

Hiashi still remained calm in the situation, which only angered Naruto even more. "You mistake my logic for unfeeling. Of course I care about my daughter, which is why I am not worried since I know you will do nothing to harm her." His eyes then narrowed as he turned to Hinata, who avoided his gaze by staring at the dirt beneath her feet. "I know you talked to these strangers and made some sort of deal. Just like I know that at this very moment the rest of those strangers are trying to capture our fugitives."

Hinata let out a small gasp and even Naruto seemed shaken for a moment. "Father, please! Just let them go and we can forget all of this," Hinata begged.

"Neji, bring the prisoners here," Hiashi boomed, ignoring Hinata's plea. Moments later Ino, Sakura, Choji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru were led to the chief as they were surrounded by men pointing spears at them. The girls and Choji looked as though they were trying to be brave, though they couldn't fully mask their fear. Sasuke had a deadly expression on his face, while Shikamaru looked as bored as ever. Hiashi examined all the prisoners and turned back to Naruto. "There is one way I will allow for you to get your friends back."

"We don't have anything to give you," Naruto grunted through gritted teeth. He always did have a hard time controlling his temper, and so the chief's stubbornness made his blood boil more than ever.

"Give us your guns," he demanded.

"Why the hell would we do that! We need those," Naruto returned. Various protests also came from the rest of the group being held hostage. Without guns they would have almost no hope of achieving their mission.

"My people have suffered many tragedies at the hands of men with guns. Naturally this is why we do not trust you strangers. Giving us your guns would be a sign of friendship and a way to keep my tribe safe."

"Then we're really not so different," Naruto said as he relinquished some of his anger. "Our whole town was destroyed by a gang of bandits called the Akatsuki, and just like you guys we had no way of stopping it. But that's why we need the guns, because we're out to stop the Akatsuki no matter what it takes."

"Don't listen to him, he just wants our guns so he can have the upper hand on us," Sasuke accused.

By now Naruto had let go of Hinata and she stood off to the side of him, feeling torn in the argument between her father and new friends. It went against everything she was raised as, but she hoped that her father would let them go in peace. She couldn't stand to see the group lose all hope when it seemed they had already lost just about everything else.

"You may be feebleminded, but I can tell you have a great deal of courage and heart," Hiashi spoke to Naruto. "But nothing has changed. The choice is your's- your guns or your friends. Which is more valuable to you?"

"Stupid idea," Shikamaru muttered. "Neither of you will win that way."

"What did you say, prisoner," Hiashi turned in Shikamaru's direction expectantly.

"What a pain, do I really have to explain it?" he drawled in return. "If you take our guns you will only have a few for the tribe, and eventually you will run out of bullets and then it'll be useless. And if we do give you the guns in return for our freedom, we can't hunt and may then starve, and then we definitely couldn't defeat the Akatsuki like we planned. Both of us lose. I don't really care what you do, but whatever you decide do it fast. It's way too troublesome waiting around forever."

"You tell 'em, Shikamaru! That chief thinks he's all that, but no way will we give in to his demands!" Ino cheered.

"Then what do you suggest," Hiashi demanded impatiently of Shikamaru, furious that the boy would imply he was stupid.

"If you want guns, you need money. If you had enough you could buy all the guns you wanted." It was clear Shikamaru had come up with another plan on the spot, and this one actually seemed like it may work.

"Then give me your money, and you may have your friends," the chief directed at Naruto.

"Eh... that's the catch," Naruto said with nervous laughter. "See, we don't actually have any money... yet."

"Then you are wasting my time," Hiashi replied coldly.

"The Akatsuki have robbed banks all across the West. The money means nothing to me, but when we kill them and have their treasure we'll have more money than anyone could imagine," Sasuke spoke. "I guess it might even be enough to shut up people as greedy as you."

"How can I be sure you will return with the money I'm promised?" the chief asked suspiciously, not taking kindly to being called greedy by someone so inferior to himself.

Hinata hesitantly stepped forward and braved a look at her father's stern face. "I will go with them, to make sure they keep their word."

"That is ridiculous," Neji spoke up, his arrow still pointed at the prisoners. "The princess cannot go on a dangerous quest with a group of complete strangers."

"Hmmmm... you are right, my dear nephew," Hiashi said. "In that case, you will accompany my daughter on this journey."

Everyone expressed shock on their faces, but none more so than Neji. "With all due respect, Hinata does not have what it takes to make it out there and you know this. I am the strongest warrior here, so I should be the only one going."

"Hinata is foolish and disobedient as of late. I'm hoping that this may set her on the right path once more and remind her of the importance of loyalty in this tribe. And I trust you most of all, Neji, to keep my daughter safe."

"Thank you, Father," said Hinata. "I will try not to let you down." Neji didn't look pleased, but he said no more on the subject.

"Let the prisoners go," Hiashi demanded, and at his request the men surrounding the group lowered their weapons and allowed them to return to Naruto at the edge of the woods.

"Hmmph! It's about time you let us go," Ino griped as she shot a glare at the men who had held her and Sakura captive.

"I don't want to press our luck or anything, but it is a long journey to the Akatsuki and we're gonna need some food to sustain us," Choji said as he tried to pacify his growling stomach. It had been so long since he had eaten he was sure he was in danger of becoming as skinny as Sakura.

"Of course. We will provide you with the provisions you require," the chief answered. Though they had been quite hostile at first, Naruto and his friends found the tribe to be good and generous people on closer acquaintance. They spared almost nothing for the group, sending them off with bundles of vegetables, berries, and dried meats as well as several jugs of water that was all loaded in to the caravan.

As the group was preparing to set out once more Hinata found her father, who was overlooking the preparations with a steely gaze. "Father... I hope to make you proud. I know I am not strong like you or Neji, but I still wish to help somehow... I don't want to be a burden any longer."

"My dear child, you will never be strong like your cousin," Hiashi said harshly, only to soften a moment later. "But you have kindness like your mother, and it is because of this that we managed to resolve this situation peacefully. Perhaps the Hyuga tribe would do better to have a leader like you, one who thinks with her heart and tries to look at the world with approval rather than scorn such as old men like me do."

"Please do not be hard on yourself," Hinata said softly. "You are a great chief, and even if I am not like you I hope to someday protect the tribe as well as you have." Hinata's mother appeared at Hiashi's side a moment later and looked at her daughter with kind eyes, which were now glistening with emotion. Hinata's little sister Hanabi was clutching at her mother's skirts and looking up at Hinata with a pouting expression.

"You must promise to return, my daughter," the kind woman spoke. "We could not get along without your gentle spirit here to guide us."

"Mother, Father, sister... I will return, and so will Neji. That is a promise to you three," Hinata spoke with determination. "I will try to keep up with the others and bring honor to our tribe, so you no longer have to be ashamed of me."

"Why does Hinata get to go!" young Hanabi whined. "I'm much better with a bow than she is! She won't even hunt since she refuses to kill animals."

"You are too young, Hanabi," her mother cooed. "And you are very valuable to us right here in the village. It would be a shame if you left us."

"Alright... but I'm gonna keep practicing every day so no matter what I'll still be a better shooter than Hinata!" Hanabi vowed. She had her father's tough spirit and determination within her and was always eager to prove her own strength.

"Speaking of a bow..." Hiashi said as he took the bow and arrows off his back and handed to Hinata. "You will be needing this. It is up to you if you will be useful or not, but if you choose to be then I trust you have what it takes."

"Thank you," Hinata whispered, feeling the weight of the bow in her hands and how well it was crafted. It was her father's own special bow and she had never seen him allow anyone else to use it. "I will try to be the person who deserves such a gift." She hugged each of them in turn and had to quickly wipe a tear out of her eye. It was time for Hinata to be strong now, which meant no more crying or relying on others. As her father had told her, her fate was in her own hands for the first time in her life.

She turned to look back to where her new companions were waiting, now finished packing all of the provisions for the road. Neji stood coldly off to the side of them and looked impatient to head out. Hinata supposed she may have been eager to set out as well, but she also felt overwhelming anxiety. She had never left the village or met anyone outside of the tribe, and now she was about to head off to lands she had never seen with people she barely knew.

And she would have to say goodbye to everything and everyone she knew for the first time... or quite possibly the last. "I should be going now," she said faintly. "I will miss all of you."

"Come on, it's not like it's the last good bye. You're gonna have to come back and see how much stronger I will have gotten since you left," Hanabi said as she held her beloved sister's hands. Hinata nodded and smiled at her candid little sister.

"Go now, before I change my mind," Hiashi said. "It is hard enough to send my eldest daughter away, but your dawdling makes it near impossible."

"Good bye, then. I love all of you," Hinata said one last time before walking towards her new companions. She approached Neji, who was still standing fixed in the same spot. "Did you say good bye already?" she asked him.

"Saying good bye would be useless since I fully plan on returning as soon as the mission is complete. I will make sure that you do, as well," he stated.

"My father really admires you Neji... he puts a lot of faith in you," Hinata said shyly. "He may not show it but I know he loves you like a son."

"But still, I am not his son and never will be. Because of my unfortunate birth I will always be beneath you, and no amount of affection will ever give me a chance at being the next chief," Neji explained bitterly. As Hinata had not regularly spoken to Neji in the past, she was shocked to hear how spiteful Neji was. She did not realize that not being named as heir had effected him so deeply. Hinata wished she could help, but she had no way of comforting the serious boy.

"Let's move out. We've delayed here far too long," Sasuke spoke from within the group. Hinata and Neji turned in his direction then made eye contact and nodded to each other. Even if Neji held some contempt for Hinata, they had to put all that bitter resentment aside for the good of their people.

The group of eight turned away from the village for the last time and headed through the small woods next to the village to the clearing where their horses and loaded caravan were waiting. They looked at the cluster of horses and all of them immediately saw a problem: how were they going to fit eight people on three horses and a mule?

"We're going to have to share horses," Sakura said. "If we have two people on each animal it is just enough to fit."

"Uh... are you sure we can fit two people on each of them? They look awfully small," Choji said sheepishly as he examined his round belly.

"Anyone sharing my horse would only get in the way," Sasuke added.

"Well what about some of us riding in the caravan?" Sakura suggested again.

"The caravan is already full of our new supplies. Any more weight will be almost impossible for that old mule to carry," Shikamaru pointed out.

"What if we had the lightest people ride in the caravan, like Sakura and Hinata?" Ino proposed.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Even if they did fit, it wouldn't exactly be comfortable considering what little space they'd have and how much the caravan rattles when it's moved."

"We haven't even left yet and we're already arguing," Naruto pointed out. "Can't some of us just walk!"

"That's the worst idea yet. Don't you know how far of a ride it will be," Sasuke shot Naruto's idea down.

"If you're so smart, what do you think we should do, Mr. Know-it-all!"

Sasuke frowned and looked at the group. "We can't have this many people. We take only the best fighters and leave the useless ones behind."

"What! How can you think of just abandoning your friends like that!" Naruto cried. "We're all a team now, which means no matter what we're in this together, with no one left behind."

Neji's patience was already wearing thin. With casual ease he stuck two finger in his mouth and blew hard, creating two successive whistling noises.

"What's he doing? Why did he do that?" Choji voiced. Everyone had stopped arguing and looked at Neji expectantly.

"I am solving your problem, since you all seem incapable of working things out yourselves," he replied sharply. Within a minute the gang heard hoofbeats coming from the village, and sure enough two horses appeared. Their manes were braided and woven with feathers and they wore no saddles like the other ones did. Neji hopped up on to one of the horses and looked out at the rest of the group. "Now we have five horses and a mule, enough to carry six people. Hinata will ride with me, and one other will have to share."

"We could have figured it out on our own eventually," Naruto muttered.

"And to put an end to the upcoming argument you may have, one of the other girls must share a horse since they are the smallest," Neji finished. He had so much authority in his voice no one dared to question him.

"That's great! Sakura can share a horse with someone and I'll get to ride my own!" Ino spoke up confidently. "I call riding that pretty gray one. It suits me, don't you think?"

"What! Why do I have to share!" Sakura protested. "You've probably never ridden a horse in your life, Ino."

"But you are the smallest one of us two, which means you have to be the extra passenger."

"You both will share. Having the two lightest on a horse together will be a much lesser load than having a light person with a heavy one," Neji explained. Sasuke glared at the Hyuga. He didn't like how he had only just joined them and was already giving out orders like he was the leader. The whole thing had been Sasuke's plan, and now it seemed Neji was trying to take it all on by himself.

"I guess that works," Sakura relinquished and Ino nodded, though disappointment was still written on her face. If she had to share a horse she would have rather done it with a cute guy, not Sakura. Still, she was made happy again when it was decided that her and Sakura would indeed ride the gray horse, for the stallion's coat looked wonderful against her pale hair and deep purple skirt. It didn't look as well when Sakura hopped up in front of her, but she supposed it would be fun to ride with her childhood best friend. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, so they could rekindle their friendship through the many miles of their journey.

Sasuke was riding an ashy horse with brown patterns along its coat, Naruto was on a reddish brown mare, Shikamaru was on one of Neji's horses, a cream-colored horse with dark hair and stockings, and Neji and Hinata rode a horse that was the same ghostly white as their eyes. It was a real lucky thing that even in its old age the mule was still very sturdy and strong enough to carry both Choji and the caravan, which was considerably more heavy than it had ever been before. Somehow they had all managed to pass over their first hurdle of the journey without killing each other, but there were still many days ahead where they would no doubt face much more daunting tasks and tests of strength.

Finally settled and prepared for the journey ahead, the group left in a blaze of dust. Every hurried gallop led them farther and farther away from the only home Hinata had ever known, and eventually they had gone so far she couldn't even see a glimpse of it when she turned around.

"You'll make yourself restless doing that," Neji said to Hinata, who blushed, realizing she had been caught. "It is not too late to turn around if you decide you don't want to do this."

Hinata turned around in the horse again, but this time it was to look at Neji instead of her disappearing village. "Don't worry about me, cousin. I will be fine," she said in her sweet voice. No matter how uncertain the future seemed to her, she knew that no matter what she would not give up like Neji was expecting her to do. Hinata looked at all her new comrades who were riding ahead and saw how confident and determined they seemed in spite of the odds. They had suffered so much and were still able to be brave, when she who had suffered nothing found herself apprehensive and terrified of what was to come. But this time she would not be the one to back down, or run, or hide. She vowed that she would try to me more like Naruto, who never gave up on his friends or showed any fear when he was face to face with her father, one of the scariest men alive.

"I won't give up, I promise," Hinata whispered to herself. If Neji had heard her quiet vow, he said nothing, and the two continued on in silence.

* * *

 **I know I said I would update last week, but I got busy and went away for the weekend so I couldn't find any time to write this. Ah sorry about that! To make up for my lateness I made this an extra long chapter. It's the first chapter to be 4000+ words!**

 **To answer a question about Ino's abilities: there will be an explanation for her powers later in the story. I won't say too much but it will answer several other questions too.**

 **Next chapter will be posted soon! I'm shooting for this Thursday or Friday. In the meantime please leave a review, let me know what you think! Thanks to all the reviewers, glad you're enjoying the story so far!**


	7. Night in the Forest

By the time the group had set off they only had about three hours of decent traveling time before the sun started to set. Still, everyone was so restless and anxious to finally be moving again that they had pushed their horses and gone twice as fast as their pace had been thus far. As vast as the plains of the valley had seemed, soon enough the group found the ground becoming softer and more trees sprouting. It wasn't much of a forest, but it was still far different from the isolated landscapes that many of them had been around their whole lives.

"I've only read about forests like this before," Sakura remarked as they entered the group of trees on horseback. "I never thought I'd actually see one."

"It's sort of spooky, isn't it?" Choji remarked. Between the darkening sky and the sparse light filtered through the trees the forest was quite dim and had a creepy air. It was a stark contrast to the broad horizon of the valleys they were used to, where you could see for miles across the flat, featureless land.

"Spooky?" Naruto repeated nervously. "You don't think there's... ghosts... do you?"

"I have heard stories about this place," Neji said calmly.

"Stories? What kind of stories?" Naruto groaned as he looked around uneasily. As reckless and gutsy as he was, spirits were the one thing that creeped him out. When he was growing up in the orphanage all of the older kids would try to frighten the younger ones like him with ghost stories, and he could still remember spending nights huddled under his blankets out of fear.

"Our tribe has many tales of dark spirits gathering in these woods," Neji further explained. "Many of our men who come here meet strange ends, and they say that they are killed by angry spirits who don't like visitors in their realm."

"Then why the heck are we here!" Naruto yelped with a shiver, wrapping his arms tightly around his rust colored horse.

"Neji... you shouldn't scare Naruto like that," Hinata said to her cousin quietly from her position in front of him.

"Come on, they're just stories a bunch of people make up when they have nothing better to do," Shikamaru said. "Are you really gonna listen to this guy?" After the kidnapping ordeal Shikamaru still couldn't bring himself to trust Neji, and it didn't help that the Hyuga always wore a rigid look of disapproval on his face. Something about him just didn't sit right with the genius.

"Do not mock the stories my tribe has told for generations," Neji coldly warned Shikamaru. He didn't raise his voice in any way, but the amount of venom in it was enough to express his animosity

"What a pain," Shikamaru muttered before falling silent again.

"I think this place is actually sort of pretty," Ino said in a surprisingly cheerful voice. "We should stop here for the night! There's plenty of wood to make a campfire."

Naruto gulped and said, "I don't mind a campfire, but no scary stories!"

"But that's the whole fun of campfires!" Choji remarked. "Well, that and roasting food over the fire."

Sasuke, who was at the front, halted his horse and turned around. "The sun will set in less than an hour. We can stop for the night then." He continued on wordlessly and the others followed suit.

"What do you think?" Ino leaned forward on the saddle to whisper to Sakura.

"Think about what?" Sakura muttered back.

"I don't know... about the forest, leaving home, the new people," Ino responded. She could have easily figured out Sakura's thoughts if she wanted to, but she strayed away from the temptation of reading her mind. Simply scanning people's minds was way too easy. Asking questions and trying to prod information out was a lot more challenging and interesting.

"I don't have any gossip for you, Ino," Sakura said with a smug smile, knowing her friend's true intentions.

"Hey! I was asking about you because I care! Not because I'm interested in cheap gossip," Ino said in a huff. "But speaking of gossip, you have to tell me about your love life! Have you had a boyfriend?"

"What kind of question is that! It's a bit personal, don't you think?" Sakura acted annoyed, but she was more embarrassed than anything. She didn't want to admit it but she really didn't have any knowledge of boys, whereas Ino seemed so experienced.

"Come on, don't act like that!" Ino said lightly. "I'll say if you do!"

"You really are acting like we're kids again." Sakura smiled in spite of herself, then sighed. "Fine, I'll play along. I've never had a boyfriend."

"Really!" Ino said in an exaggerated voice. "But you've grown to be so pretty! Surely you and Naruto...?"

"Naruto? What makes you think that! There's hardly any boys left in Konoha, and Naruto's more like a little brother to me anyways," Sakura said, then turned around and eyed Ino. "Well, go on. Don't you want to brag about how many boyfriends you've had?"

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Don't try to be coy, Ino, I know why you asked me," Sakura teased her friend. "You only asked me so you could talk about your own experiences."

"For your information there's nothing to tell," Ino said pointedly.

"That's not fair! You said you would say if I did," Sakura protested.

"I did answer! I told you there's nothing to tell. I haven't had any boyfriends at all."

Sakura raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But you've been so many places! You've gone everywhere for your famous carnival act and performed for so many people, surely there must have been someone? I mean, with the way you look, too..."

"Really, that's what you thought? That's not it at all!" Ino said with a laugh. In a louder tone she added, "Hey Shikamaru! Choji! Sakura thinks our carnival act is famous! Isn't that something?"

"Well she's the first person to think that," Choji said with a light chuckle.

"Maybe we would be more famous if me and Choji put in a little more effort and followed your troublesome script, eh?" Shikamaru said sarcastically.

"That's right, Shikamaru, and don't you forget it! Soon as this whole thing is over I'll write a new script that's twice as good as the old one!" Ino declared loudly to her friend, who only shook his head and allowed a hint of a smile to take over. In a quieter tone to Sakura she said, "Now you see why I haven't had a boyfriend! I've been stuck with those two morons the past 10 years." She chuckled under her breath in good humor and the pair fell silent again.

"That girl is so loud and brash," Neji muttered so that only Hinata could hear. "The way she yells demands at the other men is truly an insult. Women in their culture don't seem to understand their place below men."

"Then... you would want me to be the opposite?" Hinata asked softly.

"Most of the time you seem to remember your place, but your recent behavior is troubling to both your father and I," Neji answered. When Neji lectured Hinata, something he did often, it was hard for her to think of him as being less than two years older than herself. He already had all the strict and stubborn behavior of a man twice his age. "I suppose this journey is your chance to think about your position in the tribe," he continued.

"I will try," she promised. "But... maybe.. while we are here, you should be nicer to the others."

"I owe them nothing, least of all do I owe them my kindness. Do not forget why we are here. It is not to make friends with these people. It is only to reap the reward from the gang of bandits, so we can purchase guns to better protect our kin. The continued safety of the Hyuga tribe should be our sole purpose in all we do. As the princess you must already know this well."

"I understand my duty," Hinata answered without thinking. She had felt that this journey might be a chance to see the ways of the world outside of the Hyuga tribe and her father's judgement, but so far it was simply Neji reminding her of her failures and duties as often as he could.

When the sun had disappeared to only a sliver over the horizon the group stopped and got off their horses to begin setting up camp for the night. The Hyuga tribe had lent many woven blankets to the group, which they pulled out of the caravan and began spreading on the floor as makeshift beds.

"You two collect firewood," Sasuke ordered to Shikamaru and Choji, who were leaning against the caravan.

"What a drag. You have two hands, don't you," Shikamaru groaned in protest, but nevertheless him and his chubby friend set off to collect various logs and branches. "That Sasuke guy is really getting on my nerves," he confessed to Choji.

"He is a little weird," Choji said as he picked up an enormous log with no struggle and broke it into pieces. "But he's the reason we're here, so we should probably respect him."

"I'm here for a number of reasons, but none of them are cuz of him," Shikamaru responded. "And I don't give out respect so easily, especially not to some cocky bastard only in this for himself."

Choji shook his head and laughed. "You really don't approve of people too easily, eh Shikamaru?"

"I like Naruto better. He's pretty annoying and has way too much energy, but he seems like an honest guy. I would rather follow him than Sasuke."

"Even if you don't like Sasuke, isn't it nice to be around other people for once?" Choji suggested, adding another huge branch on to his already towering stack.

"Troublesome as it is I suppose you're right. And even though I might seem lazy or not serious about anything, I really do want to put an end to these Akatsuki, and not just for the reward. Ino's right, we owe it to our fathers. They didn't give their lives only to have us con people as a traveling side show."

"It sounds pretty bad saying it like that. It doesn't make us bad people, right?"

Choji and Shikamaru started to head back once their arms were full. "Nah," Shikamaru answered. "But I guess it doesn't really make us good people either."

"Then we'll just have work hard to be better then!" Choji said with enthusiastic determination. "You'll see, Shikamaru, we'll make our dads proud."

"For now I'm just looking to survive the night," Shikamaru muttered as they got back to camp. Neji was tying their horses up to trees off to the side while Hinata was feeding them. Ino and Sakura were searching through their supplies while Naruto and Sasuke were kneeled over arguing.

"That's not how you do it," Sasuke said to Naruto as he grabbed the sticks he was rubbing together. The Uchiha held one of the sticks vertical over the other stick and started twisting it in a downward motion. Naruto pouted and grabbed a few other sticks and continued rubbing them together in the fashion he was earlier.

"I can do it just as easily as you can!" Naruto claimed as he started to rub his sticks together at a rapid pace. Sasuke noticed this and began to grind his stick even faster. The two rivals alternated between looking at their sticks and stealing determined glances at the other. Shikamaru and Choji dumped their logs beside them wordlessly, but they made no sign that they even noticed the two as they were so busy competing.

"I did it!" they both exclaimed simultaneously as a small flame lit on each of their sticks. They turned and each saw the other had created a fire as well. "I did it first!"

"Hurry, you idiots, before the fire burns out!" Sakura chided as she appeared beside them. She arranged some kindling around the two small flames and blew so it caught fire. "Thanks for the firewood, you two," she said to Shikamaru and Choji, who were still standing off to the side.

Hinata, Neji, and Ino came over and they all sat close to the fire for warmth as Sakura continued to tend to it. It had always been one of her duties on the farm to keep the fireplace lit so it was almost second nature to her as she stoked the flames.

They all ate some of their provisions and were too distracted in their food for any real conversation to form, so the night had become eerily quiet until a nearby bush shook.

Naruto stiffened but made no other indication he was afraid, but Hinata still noticed. "Mr. Naruto, don't be afraid," she said quietly to him so the others wouldn't hear.

"What! Who says I'm afraid! I'm definitely not afraid of any ghosts," he said nervously. "And call me Naruto, why don't you? Mr. sounds so weird and stuffy, and if you really are a princess it's probably not right to call me by a title."

"Oh.. okay," she stammered. "But it seems too casual to call you by just your name."

"I like casual! It means we're friends now, "Naruto said with a grin. Hinata looked at the flames as her face turned the same color as the blazing fire. "Say, are Neji's stories really true, about this forest and everything? Not that I'm scared, I just... uh... I'm interested to hear about your culture, yeah, that's it."

"Well, there are a few stories," she answered in a quiet voice. "But I'm sure it's not true."

"What, you don't believe in them?"

"Um... sometimes... but I don't know," she whispered. "I have never left the village so... I can't say for sure."

"It's my first time leaving Konoha, too," Naruto said as he took a huge bite out of some of the cooked meat. "Hey, this stuff is pretty good!" He proceeded to shove the whole thing in his mouth and chew loudly.

"Uh, Naruto?" Hinata offered. She bent her head and stuck out her portion of the meat he had just gobbled up. "Please take mine."

"Hey, don't you want to eat it? If I were you I wouldn't give away something so tasty!"

"Please," she said softly again, until he eventually took it off her hands and ate the whole thing in one bed. She looked away to hide a small smile, but it didn't go unnoticed by Neji, who was watching her with a disapproving nature from across the fire.

"Gee, thanks Hinata!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "I thought you were kind of weird and quiet, but now I'm really starting to like you!"

Hinata's face turned more red than ever. _He likes me?_ she thought happily.

On the other side of the campfire Ino yawned loudly and stretched her arms up when she was done eating. "I'm getting tired. Being kidnapped really is exhausting," she said as she purposefully shot a glare at Neji.

"If you are tired it is probably because you move your mouth too much," Neji responded with little expression. Shikamaru and Choji were struggling not to laugh, amused by Neji's accurate appraisal but worried about making Ino direct her fiery temper at them.

Ino seemed at a loss for words and gaped her mouth several times in offense.

"It worked. She stopped talking," Sasuke observed.

"I'll have you know many people find my conversation to be very pleasant! At least I'm not quiet and sulking all the time like most of you!" she countered indignantly.

"And there she goes again," he muttered.

"Well, either way I really am tired," she announced, still a little miffed. She stood up and made her way to the makeshift bed she had set up for the night, and soon enough most of the group followed suit. Between the run in with the Hyuga tribe and the hours of traveling, it had been quite the long day, and it didn't take long until everyone was sound asleep.

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open in the middle of the night when he heard a noise in the camp. _Oh man, oh man,_ he thought nervously. _It's a ghost for sure._ He was tempted to hide under his blankets as he had always done in the past, but he decided it was time he manned up and faced his fear. He hesitantly stood up and tiptoed around the other sleeping bodies.

"Hello? Uh... any ghosts out there?" Naruto called out quietly. He followed a long ways down to where he had heard the rustling and ran head on straight into something solid. Someone covered his mouth and he flailed around in fear.

"Naruto, it's me," a voice whispered. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he saw Sasuke standing there with a pack slung on his back.

Naruto peeled Sasuke's hands off his mouth. "Hey, what are you doing! Are you going somewhere?"

"Be quiet!" Sasuke hissed. "And yeah, I was about to leave."

"Don't leave yet, everyone is still sleeping!" Naruto admonished. He turned and said, "Here, I'll go wake them up and tell them you want to get an early start."

Sasuke grabbed his collar and pulled him back forcefully. "Don't be stupid. I'm leaving on my own."

"What! Are you crazy! Why would you leave?" Naruto struggled to keep his voice low in spite of his opposition.

"This group is completely dysfunctional and you know it," Sasuke said coldly. "I'd rather face the Akatsuki alone. It was always my plan, and I don't care whether I live or die accomplishing it. But no matter what I'll do it, and I'll do it myself."

"You think you can face off against the entire gang alone? Don't you know that's suicide!"

"I told you, I don't care if I live or die. The Akatsuki murdered my entire family, and from the moment that happened I swore some day I would have my revenge," Sasuke replied.

"You're not the only one who's lost things, you know, so stop acting like the whole burden is on you!" Naruto raised his voice slightly in frustration.

Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously and he turned on Naruto with years of pent up rage spilling out. "Just shut up! Don't act like you know anything about what it's like to lose something! You always had nothing, no family or anything, so you have no idea what it's like to have that happiness only for it to be taken away. None of you have any idea, so don't try to act like you understand! It's my burden and mine alone."

"Maybe you're right, maybe I don't know what it's like to lose something. But I do know what pain feels like. Every day in Konoha people looked at me like I was a problem, like they wished they could just make me disappear. I didn't have any family, any friends, and people would barely look at me unless I was in some sort of trouble. And then they would only say, 'It figures he would be a trouble maker. He is the traitor's son after all'."

"You are the son of a traitor. And that means that soiled blood runs in you," Sasuke hissed.

"Maybe, and I guess that means I'm scum," Naruto admitted begrudgingly, "But with that logic you also have the spirit of a great sheriff inside you, and he would never give up on anyone, especially not when the town was at stake."

"My father wouldn't have hung around a crowd like that," Sasuke said as he motioned to the sleeping gang.

"Yeah, we might not individually be strong," Naruto said. "But when we come together we have strength in numbers and strength in each other. They're people you can rely on, Sasuke. You don't have to do it alone."

"How can you look at them and say I'm stronger with them!" Sasuke protested. "You think those lame carnies have anything to contribute? I doubt any of them can even hold a gun. And Sakura is just a weak girl who should have never left her farm. For all we know those Hyuga's could stab us in the back at any moment. How can you tell me we're stronger together? We're a broken group and you know it. I'm better off alone."

"I won't let you go, no matter what," Naruto said as he stepped in front of Sasuke, who had started to turn away. "Yeah, we might not be strong right now, but I can tell you we're a thousand times stronger together than apart."

Sasuke glared at Naruto but continued to listen.

"The thing is, strength isn't just about power. It's about having someone you can count on, knowing that you're fighting for someone, not something."

"What can an orphan like you know about it?"

"That's the thing... maybe I don't know really know anything," Naruto admitted. "But I do know that you're my friend, and there's no way I would let you go off alone on a suicide mission." The two stood there for a moment in silence before Sasuke started to walk back towards camp.

"So you'll stay?" Naruto asked.

"Guess I don't have a choice. Even if I left you'd just follow me and never leave me alone," he muttered. Naruto grinned as he walked back with his friend and laid back down. He wasn't sure if Sasuke really believed what he had said, but it was enough to make him stay and that was victory enough in itself.

* * *

 **Some have asked if the other characters will appear in the story, and the answer is yes! There will be several other characters introduced in the upcoming chapters.**

 **On another note f anyone is interested I made a few illustrations to the story when I got writer's block. You can check them out here:**

 **Not sure if you can share links so I'll separate it just in case: : / / porkycat . deviant art**

 **This was sort of a transition chapter so not much happened, I wanted to show more of the group slowly bonding. The story will pick up again next chapter, which will be out in a few days. Thanks for all your reviews and nice words!**


	8. The Man in the Road

The group started out again early the next morning, and neither Naruto or Sasuke made any mention of their late night discussion. The pair didn't even speak to each other, though there was a new understanding formed between them that didn't require words. Sasuke had actually listened to Naruto for once, a surprising sign of respect considering he had had nothing but disdain for him in the past. And for Sasuke, hearing Naruto call him a friend was also a new experience- he had never had one before. Even as a carefree child in Konoha he had preferred to play with his older brother and had looked down on the other kids in school, especially Naruto. He had labelled Naruto as a freak and a loser, someone entirely different from him; but now Sasuke saw that the two were not entirely different after all. Naruto could not understand Sasuke's pain, but he had been through difficult things in his life that Sasuke wouldn't have been able to understand either.

Sasuke certainly wasn't getting to be sentimental, but he felt he could at least tolerate the annoying blond more easily now. As for the rest of the losers, they were still as annoying as ever.

"There is someone in the road up ahead," Neji announced to the group suddenly. Hinata had seen the same thing with her special eyes but had been too timid to speak up, knowing Neji would see it as well.

"Where! I don't see anyone," Naruto said as he squinted along the deserted path they were following.

"Half a mile down," Neji observed. "It is strange... he seems to be lying there."

"What, is he hurt?" Sakura asked.

"Or dead. We will see."

"Orrrrrr, he could just be sleeping!" Ino suggested optimistically. In an unsure note she added, "In daylight... in the middle of the road."

"Not even Shikamaru is lazy enough to fall asleep in the middle of the road," said Choji as he snacked on some berries he had picked earlier. He had started to eat them before anyone could even be sure they were poisonous, but it hadn't seemed to effect him. That was Choji for you- eat first, think later.

"Whatever condition he is in, be on guard. It could be a set up," Sasuke warned as he put a hand on the gun in his holster. Hinata took control of the horse while Neji stuck an arrow in his bow in preparation.

When they came across the man in the road they couldn't be sure if he was dead or alive. He was lying facedown and was completely still with blood stained all over his clothing. Sakura jumped down from her horse immediately and ran to the man's side, turning him over as gently as possible to see the gunshot wound in his shoulder. She reached two fingers up to his neck and waited a moment. "He's still alive, but he's not good. Ino, bring me my pack!"

Ino dashed to Sakura's side and laid the pack down, where Sakura opened it up and took out a medical kit. The farmer's daughter immediately opened it and began to move like a madwoman as she pulled out gauze and put pressure on the wound. "Gee, Sakura, where'd you learn all this stuff from?"

"What, you think I'm just an uneducated farm girl?" she bantered. "My mother practiced medicine before marrying my dad. She taught me everything she knew."

"Come to think of, I do remember her coming to my house before to try and treat my mom," Ino spoke quietly. Her mother had died of pneumonia back when she was just 4 years old, and even Mrs. Haruno's medicinal expertise couldn't have stopped that. "But hey, do you need any help?"

"No, just stay back with the others. I have this handled," Sakura insisted. Ino slowly stepped back to where the others were waiting on guard. When did Sakura become so confident and capable? It seemed strange that the shy and sensitive girl she had known had blossomed in to such a person. It made Ino wonder how she had changed over the years in Sakura's eyes. Had she grown up so much too?

"This doesn't seem to be an ambush," Sasuke commented as he continued to watch the surrounding forest.

"There are no others around for at least a mile," Neji confirmed.

"I wonder if that guy will be okay," Naruto said. "It looks pretty bad."

"What I'm wondering is who's the guy who did that to him? And more importantly, where is he now?" Shikamaru pointed out.

Naruto froze and blanched as he turned to look at Neji. "Hey, uh, Neji? You don't think this has anything to do with those spirits you were taking about, the ones you said live in this forest and kill people who enter?"

Neji turned on Naruto with an impatient frown. "You think spirits can cause gunshot wounds like that?" he said in a condescending tone.

"I wouldn't put it past them," Naruto answered. "Not that I'm worried about it or anything. I'll take any one of them if they try and mess with me!"

"The man is waking up now," Hinata said from her perch on the horse. The rest turned in time to see him stir slightly as Sakura continued to treat his wound. Looking more carefully, he had very strange features. His eyes were round and intense and were framed by dark masses that looked more like caterpillars than eyebrows.

"You're awake! Is the pain very bad?" Sakura asked the man when she saw his eyes flutter open. Instead of answering he seemed to be taking in his surroundings, noticing his now treated shoulder and the way Sakura was holding his head in her lap.

"You saved my life," he said as tears began to fill his eyes. "And you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen! Please, you must marry me and make me the happiest man alive!"

"HUH!" Sakura cried, working hard to not leap up and get away from the weirdo. "That blood loss must be getting to your head, you're delusional."

"I was only delusional until I saw your face, and then everything became clear," the guy declared his love passionately, apparently not noticing the look of confusion and disgust growing on Sakura's face.

"Slow down, we just met!" she said, holding in a shriek as he took her hands in his.

"Then this truly is love at first sight!" he cried. Ino could barely hold in her laughter while the rest of the gang watched in confusion. Only minutes ago the guy had been completely unconscious, and now he was acting like he had no wounds at all. Either Sakura really was a miraculous healer, or the guy was just so strange he couldn't be stopped by such a wound. More than likely it was a combination of both.

"Who did this to you?" Naruto asked the young man from where the gang was still standing.

"It was-" the man sat up as he talked and suddenly hissed in pain, clutching his shoulders with his teeth gritted.

"Don't make such movements! You'll start the bleeding again," Sakura chided as she put the man's arm around her shoulders and helped him stand up slowly. Naruto ran over and supported him on the other side as they led him back to the horses. "We've got to get you to the nearest town so you can see a real doctor."

"You're pretty," the wounded man said in a loopy tone. He had lost so much blood by now that he really was becoming delusional. "Can I take you to dinner, miss?"

"Yes, if you can tell me how to get to the restaurant! Tell me where the closest one is, so we can start our date as soon as possible," Sakura played along, trying to bait him in to telling them where the nearest town was in relation to the forest.

"That's easy, just follow the road," he slurred as he slung up a hand to point in the direction they had originally been heading. It seemed that the nearest town was just beyond the edge of the forest, which couldn't be much farther considering how far in it they had already traveled.

"Ino, you're going to have to ride with someone else. I'm taking him on my horse so I can monitor his conditions while we ride," Sakura told her friend as her and Naruto helped the wounded boy on to the gray stallion. Sakura climbed up behind him and held the reins around him so that his body was secured within her grasp. He seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness. _We have to treat him as soon as possible or this could be bad,_ Sakura thought.

"Right!" Ino jumped on the back of Shikamaru's cream colored horse and held tightly around his waist, as there were no reins to cling to. As soon as they were all settled they took off at a fast pace down the path, with Sakura in the lead. She had never actually put all of her medical training in to practice in such a dire situation, and now that she had she could feel how desperate she was to ensure the man's safety. Even if she had done all she could, she would never be able to forgive herself if he didn't pull through.

* * *

Just as they had anticipated the town was only a short distance from the spot where they had discovered the body- no more than a couple of miles down the road. Everyone was amazed when they arrived, for it was one of the biggest sites any of them had been in. They were all used to towns that consisted of only a small cluster of buildings, but this place was bustling and lively with countless shops and buildings all lined up along a street filled with horses and carriages. It was far grander than even Konoha had been in its glory days.

"Excuse me, sir," Sakura called to a man nearby. She asked for directions to the town's doctor office and quickly took off as soon as he had answered. The others didn't bother to follow the cloud of dust her horse had kicked up as she had rushed off. Sakura could handle herself, so there was no purpose in trying to follow. Instead they slowly proceeded through the town and examined all of the shops and business in mutual wonderment.

"Imagine setting up our business in a town like this one," Ino commented to Shikamaru. "We could have our own building with our names written all across, not sloppily written like it is on our banner now, no- written in neat bold print so everyone can see."

"With all the people here we'd get at least triple the customers we would get in Wesburg," Choji said jovially.

Everyone seemed to be relaxed and enjoying the exciting views the new place had to offer, but Hinata felt she couldn't be at ease. Everywhere they went her spirit eyes picked up glimpses of a shadow figure following them. She could never fully get a good look, but she always felt the stranger's presence even when she couldn't see it. Whoever it was was purposefully keeping their distance, but there was no doubt they were following them.

"Neji," Hinata said in a low voice to her cousin. "Have you seen that figure following us?"

"No one is following us," he said dismissively. "There are many people here. You're just not used to being around such crowds, it's making you paranoid and jumpy."

"That's not it," she said, but he didn't seem to be listening. He was caught up staring in to a window with a display of well-polished guns, the shiny metal seeming to mesmerize the warrior boy. No one in her tribe had ever used a gun, but Hinata was sure that Neji planned on being the first. If only anyone in the gang had even two pennies to rub together. They were all completely broke.

Sasuke was drawn to a much different sight. On the side of several of the buildings were yellowing wanted posters with the faces of criminals. He pulled over to observe some of them and was pleased when he saw several of them were labelled as "members of the treacherous Akatsuki gang".

"Do you see how much money they have up for reward!" Choji noted as he stared at the posters from behind Sasuke.

"That's a lot of zeroes," Ino said in a similar trance.

"The Akatsuki have been spotted near this town," Sasuke said as he traced his fingers along one of the faded posters. "We can't be too far from finding them."

"Well that's great! As soon as Sakura is back we have to set off right away to find them!" Naruto said enthusiastically. Sasuke looked at him for a moment and then turned back to the poster in deep thought. "Come on, what are we waiting for! You've already waited 10 years for this, right?"

"It will be 10 wasted years if we rush in to this unprepared," Sasuke finally spoke. "We don't have any sort of plan, we're carrying around that slow noisy caravan, and half of us don't even have a gun. The Akatsuki would slaughter us under these conditions."

"He's right. As much as we're all gung-ho about this, most of us have never even been in a battle before," Shikamaru agreed. "We need to at least sell the caravan." Ino and Choji both gasped simultaneously.

"But Shikamaru! That's our very livelihood right there!" Ino protested.

"We're going to need to be quick and sneaky, and the caravan will just hold us back," he explained. "And if we sell it that will give us money to buy weapons and supplies for the journey. Besides, if we really do accomplish this we won't need that old wagon. You saw the rewards on the posters; we'll have plenty enough to open our own business."

"But if we don't have the caravan, where will we keep all the food!" Choji spoke up.

"In your stomach, apparently," Neji snickered under his breath.

"We'll spread out the supplies amongst all our horses," Sasuke answered. The gang all seemed in agreement that they would sell the caravan and spend time in the town preparing for the journey instead of rushing in to anything. Even Naruto eventually resigned to the plan, though he still seemed anxious to keep going until they finished what they started. According to the first part of the plan, they went to the town's tradesman to try to fetch a decent price for the battered old caravan. It certainly wasn't in the best condition, but it would surely still sell for something.

"WHAT!" Ino screamed when she heard the tradesman's price. "You're trying to swindle us!"

The tired-looking man impatiently turned on Ino and crossed his arms. "Please get this harpy out of my face," he said as he leaned away from the irate blonde.

"HARPY? Now you're really making me mad!" Ino seemed about to lunge at him when Shikamaru pulled her back by her shirt and stepped in front of her. _She sure can be scary sometimes,_ he thought, almost feeling bad for the tradesman who had unleashed her fury.

"Listen here," Shikamaru spoke to him in a much more rational tone. "I know just how much any wagon is worth regardless of damage it may have, so you're not going to trick me. Let's say we make it an even two hundred and we're out of your hair."

"You're as crazy as your woman. I wouldn't pay half that price," he replied in a bored tone.

"First of all, she's not my woman-"

"You're lucky then," the tradesman noted. "I'd advise you to keep your distance from a psychotic creature like that one. Your other lady friend over there, the quiet one, she'd be a much better choice." Now Shikamaru was almost as mad as Ino, which wasn't an easy feat to accomplish as his passive nature meant he was rarely angered over anything.

"She might be crazy or loud or annoying, but I'd gladly take a troublesome woman like that over a used up, bitter, stingy tradesman like you," Shikamaru said in an uncharacteristically low voice. Ino couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. He definitely wasn't any sort of knight in shining armor and had still put her down in his defense of her, but Shikamaru always had her back when it really counted. "I won't go any lower than 200, and that's final."

"Dealing with customers like you always makes me feel like retiring," he sighed. "I'll give you 180. Any higher than that and I'd be losing money."

"Deal," Shikamaru agreed as the man reluctantly handed over the bills. They left swiftly before he had the chance to say anything else and left the caravan in the front of the business.

"Why did you settle on 180?" Naruto asked once they were well away from the trader. "Didn't you say you wouldn't go lower than 200?"

"Turns out we're the ones who swindled him," Shikamaru said with a smile. He turned to Ino and said, "Our strategy paid off, eh?"

"Huh? What strategy?" Naruto was completely lost and looked back and forth between their knowing faces.

"They always pull that when they're bargaining," Choji explained. "Ino goes in there screaming and acting crazy, then Shikamaru acts as the reasonable one but claims it's worth some really high price. The guy refuses and insults Ino, then Shikamaru insults the guy. Really they just act as annoying as possible, and then he'll eventually agree to their price just to get rid of them. It's a basic strategy they've been doing for years." He rattled it all off like it was nothing while the others looked impressed. Of course, there was a lot more to it than that. Ino had read the trader's mind, so she knew how high he was willing to go and had relayed the information along to Shikamaru. She had been constantly reading his mind the whole time, so they had been able to get the maximum amount he would offer.

"So then how much was it really worth?" Sasuke asked.

"Not even half what we got," Shikamaru said with a sly grin. Even Sasuke seemed to be impressed at how conniving the trio seemed to be. Everyone had thought of them as a bunch of tagalong misfits, but it seemed they had their own strange form of cunning teamwork. With the new money they had they decided to put their horses in some stables and spend the night in the town before making more preparations for the journey ahead. They were headed towards the hotel when Sakura appeared on the streets and ran up to them, looking completely exhausted.

"Hey, Sakura! About time you're finished," Naruto said. Her green eyes, which were usually so bright and alive, now seemed dull and tired. She slumped along with them and didn't even have the energy to yell at them for leaving her alone to deal with the wounded man.

"Is the man alright?" Hinata asked gently.

"He'll pull through. For now he just needs some good rest," Sakura said. "The doctor's assistant was out so he kept me there the whole time. I had to keep the wound clean and hold the guy down, but eventually he got the bullet out. I'm going back tomorrow to see how he's doing."

"Get any more marriage proposals?" Ino teased, only to earn a glare from Sakura. "Relax, Sakura, you should be glad a man can love you and your giant forehead!"

"You can tease all you want, but it means I've still had one more marriage proposal than you'll ever get!" Sakura nudged back.

"If you two are done bickering we need to be getting a hotel room soon," Sasuke announced. The day had passed quickly and the sun was already just barely hovering over the buildings. The group headed to a hotel they had seen earlier and soon separated into three rooms, which only costed a small sum in comparison to the money they had earned selling the caravan. The hotel was comfortable, though a little dingy, but regardless it beat sleeping on the cold hard ground as they had been forced into as of late.

The girls were all in one room, Naruto and Sakuke in another, while Neji, Shikamaru, and Choji shared the final room. Most of them were so exhausted after all of the tumultuous events that had transpired that they went to sleep right away. Naruto, however, was slightly restless, in part due to his usual hyperactive attitude and also because of his excitement to be in a hotel for the first time.

"Do you think they have room service here, Sasuke?" he asked as he roamed around the room.

"I doubt it," Sasuke groaned dismissively.

"I've always wanted room service before! They must have it, I'm sure!"

"Why don't you just go ask someone and leave me alone," Sasuke said, trying to get rid of his pesky roommate so he could finally get some peace. Surprisingly, Naruto agreed and left the room so he could go bother someone else with his pointless ramblings. Sasuke rolled over in bed and closed his eyes and was on the brink of sleep when he heard the unmistakeable sound of a gun cocking within the room.

He quickly opened his eyes to see a shadow of a figure standing at the window with a shotgun aimed straight at him. Sasuke quickly sat up and tried to make out the figure but could only see darkness.

"I finally found you," the figure said as he took a step out of the shadows and revealed his face.

* * *

 **I know this is a terrible time to end with a cliffhanger, but there's going to be a slight hiatus in the story as I'll be visiting Japan for the next couple weeks (super excited!) and won't be able to update. This chapter was a little rushed because I wanted to get it out there before I left, but hopefully it's still alright. There's some pretty big revelations next chapter, though, so hopefully you guys will stick around for that!**

 **Thanks for reading, as usual reviews appreciated (:**


	9. Intruder in the Night

The shadows parted to reveal a pale stone of a face watching Sasuke from the other side of the room. The intruder's behavior was almost unnerving in how calm and unflinching he was as he aimed to kill another man. It was clear it wouldn't be for the first time.

Before the man had time to react Sasuke rolled off the bed and flipped it over to form a barricade against the man's ringing gunshot. Time seemed to stand still and Sasuke's head was pounding as he searched for his gun along the dark floorboards. He could almost feel the stranger upon him when he finally felt the smooth handle of his gun, twirled it around in his hand, and turned it on the pale assassin.

"Who are you," Sasuke demanded in a cool tone that didn't match his racing heartbeat. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins and he felt an immense rage that hadn't been so palpable in years. If this freak thought he could off Sasuke that easily he had another thing coming to him. After all, Sasuke had been training in combat for ten years and refused to go down before he took all the Akatsuki with him.

"I, am nobody," the stranger said with a twitch of a smile pinned to his face. There was something about him that seemed incomplete, almost empty. Though his eyes were as dark in shade as Sasuke's, they contained none of the anger or indignation that were burning in the Uchiha's gaze. They were completely empty, nothing more than two black pools attached to an equally expressionless face.

"If you don't tell me who you are in five seconds I'll blow your head off," Sasuke threatened in a low voice. Still, the man didn't even flinch, just blinked his hollow eyes and continued to stare.

"I have told you, I am nobody. But I suppose you mean to ask what my name is, and I suppose the answer to that is 'Sai'. At least, that's what most people call me, simply because they must call me something," he answered promptly.

"What kind of freak are you," Sasuke muttered as he narrowed his eyes. He took a step forward and again questioned the man called Sai. "Why are you here? Who sent you?"

"My, you are a bit slow. It seems the things I have heard were all exaggerated tales. How disappointing," he said blankly.

At this point Sasuke was so angry he had to consciously keep his hand steady to prevent his gun from shaking in pure rage. The man treated him as though he was nothing, some trifle to be done off with and brushed aside. If he only knew the dark remnants of Sasuke's heart he wouldn't dare speak to him in such a way.

"You still don't know what I am here for? I am a bounty hunter and you have a very large bounty on your head. See? It is very simple. I find the target, I get the bounty," Sai explained. "In this case you are the target."

"You're a disgusting snake, working like a mindless drone for whoever gives you the highest pay," Sasuke growled.

"I do not do this for the money. I simply do this because I am told to. I don't care what I do, actually," the dark man said.

"That's even worse. You are a man without honor." Sasuke stared Sai down over the barrel of his gun, waiting to see him crack. If he could keep him distracted long enough Naruto would come and he would be outnumbered... assuming Naruto didn't screw things up as he usually did. This time Sasuke had to count on Naruto, and he hated it. He hated having to rely on anyone other than himself. From his experience he knew counting on others was pointess, because in the end they would either leave him or let him down. It was inevitable with every human being.

"Honor? I don't see how that's important. It just stands in the way of duty. If having honor prevented me from carrying out my mission, then I'm glad I don't have it." The man truly did seem void of any personal feelings or affections. In that case he really was the perfect assassin.

"You still didn't tell me who sent you, but I think I can guess. I only know of one name who would want me dead, and for good reason, too: the Akatsuki," Sasuke accused. At this Sai's plastered face seemed to crack in confusion, his first indication he was anything but a robot.

Just at that moment the door swung open and Naruto entered loudly. "Hey Sasuke, they- wait a minute, who's this! What's going on!" Naruto's cheerful voice quickly became weary as he eyed down the dueling figures. He scrambled at his belt and latched on to his gun, turning to aim it at the malevolent stranger in the room.

"It seems I am outnumbered," Sai stated as he inspected Naruto's frame on the other side of the room. "This must be another member of the Akatsuki."

"Hold on, you've got the wrong guys!" Naruto declared. "We sure as hell aren't bandits if that's what you think. We're actually on a quest right now to take down the Akatsuki. If you're really looking for bandits you should be after those guys." Sasuke glared at Naruto, annoyed at his interference. Still, it was a relief that this simply seemed like a case of mistaken identity. If they cleared it up that Sai guy would leave and maybe Naruto would shut up enough for him to at least get some sleep tonight.

"I told you I didn't know what you were talking about. You've got the wrong guy, so leave already," Sasuke said shortly. Sai slowly put down his gun and began to reach in to his pocket. "Watch it. Keep your hands up where I can see them and get out of here."

"I have something to show you. It might change your mind," Sai said indifferently. Sasuke allowed him to reach in to his pocket, where he pulled out a folded piece of paper and unfurled it. "This is the person I was sent to kill. You."

But it wasn't Sasuke who was drawn on the piece of paper. To someone who didn't know his features well they might mistake him for the man in the detailed sketch due to the strong resemblance, but it was the scar drawn on the man's cheek that made it a dead give away. There was no doubt that the lifeless portrait was Itachi Uchiha.

Sasuke was stunned. He could barely process the information, let alone try to think of an explanation for the impossible face staring back at him from beneath the careful "Wanted" type. All he could think was how strange it was that something so neat and small as a drawing could unleash such turmoil on him. For the past ten years all of his thoughts had revolved around getting revenge against the Akatsuki for killing his parents and beloved brother. But now Itachi was alive and apparently in the Akatsuki... it just couldn't be true. His entire world had been upended and Sasuke felt like he didn't know anything any more. Had his whole life been a lie?

Naruto said what Sasuke couldn't: "It looks like Sasuke, but that's definitely not him. See the scar on that guy's cheek? And his face is shaped differently. See? Sasuke's a good guy! Whoever that Akatsuki guy is in the drawing we're going to find him and take him down, so you don't have to worry about that." Sai looked at the drawing again and compared it to Sasuke, reaching the same conclusion with a frown. Upon first glance the two were identical, but the features were different enough he knew he had been mistaken.

"I may be wrong now, but I will still find this Itachi Uchiha, leader of the Akatsuki. I always complete my missions," Sai said as he returned the poster to his pocket and picked his gun back up off the floor.

"Itachi Uchiha? But Sasuke, isn't that..." Naruto started only to see Sasuke's expression for the first time. Tears threatened to spill out of the Uchiha's eyes, but they were not weepy tears. His face was an intense mask of fury, the tears appearing more angry than anything.

"Yes, my brother," he answered in a surprisingly level voice, though it was dripping with undiluted wrath. "This doesn't change anything. If anything it makes me more eager to kill every single last one of the Akatsuki, including my murderous traitor of a brother."

"Sasuke, you don't really know the full story yet-"

"What else is there to know? My brother is the leader of the gang who murdered my parents and ruined my life. If I'm missing something tell me, and if not could you just shut up for once," Sasuke spoke, holding in an angry sob. Naruto watched his friend sympathetically. There really wasn't anything Naruto could say... Sasuke's life had already been hard with the loss of his family, but finding out the brother he cherished was in the very gang that tore Konoha apart had to be too much for even Sasuke to take. It was beyond words.

"So we both have the same target. It would be best if we worked together from here on out," Sai announced.

"No." Sasuke was almost shaking with anger. He felt he couldn't even look at the guy without seeing red.

"I am a trained assassin and expert tracker. It would be stupid to not join forces with me," he reasoned. "I see you are burdened by your emotions. It is a pity how you people must deal with feelings. It is much easier to accomplish things when you are like me with no feelings at all."

Sasuke wished he didn't have feelings. He wished he could be like Sai, stone faced and mechanical without pain or sorrow pulling him down. But he knew without these feelings he wouldn't have the same drive for revenge, and that he was grateful for. It was all that was keeping him going now.

"Sasuke?" Naruto nudged. "He has a point."

"He can come," Sasuke finally answered, "so long as he leaves my brother to me."

"We'll tell the others tomorrow," Naruto said.

"Others?" Sai asked. He seemed slightly apprehensive for a moment. "You're not traveling in a group of five, are you?"

"Uh... let's see," Naruto started, scratching his head. Numbers were definitely not his forte. "There's six others, and plus me and Sasuke is seven- no, eight. Eight of us. Why do you need to know? It's a pretty weird thing to ask."

Sai actually seemed embarrassed for a moment, but he quickly snapped back to his emotionless state and explained, "A gypsy warned me against traveling in groups of five. Doing so would jeopardize my mission, so I must be very careful." Naruto tried not to laugh out of respect for Sasuke, but it seemed outrageous that a guy as straightlaced as him would believe in a fortune teller's cheap prediction. "By the way... could I stay here tonight?"

Sasuke waved at the floor, an indication that that would be where Sai would sleep, before collapsing in to bed. Despite all the thoughts stirring through his brain, he fell asleep almost as soon as he hit the bed. He was glad of it, too, for being awake meant dealing with the truth, and no nightmare could be worse than that.

* * *

Sasuke woke up before anyone else the next morning and wandered outside the hotel with his gun in hand. His legs drifted on until he reached a patch of trees a distance away from the edge of town.

Sasuke stopped and roughly pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket- the Wanted poster. With a knife from his belt he pinned the opened poster to a nearby tree and stepped back, raising his gun to the image and firing. Straight shot through the sketch's forehead. He backed up some more and continued shooting as each bullet tore up the paper more and more. Singed pieces were flying off and the paper was in shreds, but it wasn't enough to get rid of the image of Itachi burned in to Sasuke's mind, the unmistakable scar reminding him of his worst fears come to life.

 _"Itachi, guess what! I know what I'm going to be when I grow up!" Sasuke shouted as he greeted his older brother who had just walked through the front door. He had recently started working in the mines on occasion, and on those days it seemed like forever to Sasuke before he could see his brother again. It wasn't like the family needed money, Itachi was simply a curious boy who had always been fascinated by the deep caves in Konoha._

 _"What is it, Sasuke?" Itachi asked as he reached down to rub the boy's hair with his rough hands. The child's hair was as black as the coal Itachi had been shoveling all day, and his eyes as sparkling as the crystals he had spotted in the rocks._

 _"I always wanted to be Sheriff like daddy, but now I want to be a miner like you!" he exclaimed. "Or even better, I could be both! So I'll be just like you and just like daddy."_

 _"You know what I think is better than being like me and Dad?" Itachi asked cheerfully. Sasuke thought hard about it but he couldn't come up with an answer. "What's even better is being yourself."_

 _"What d'ya mean?" Sasuke asked. His six year old self couldn't process anything better than being exactly like his two heroes._

 _"Take a walk with me," Itachi said in reply. As young as he was Sasuke knew that Itachi was about to explain something very important. He always took his time when saying the things that really mattered. So he followed his brother out the door and tagged along as they walked through the town they loved, waving at all the people they passed. As the sons of the sheriff they were known just about everywhere they went in Konoha and faced friendly smiles from everyone._

 _"Everyone here loves you, Sasuke. This whole town is like your family, your family away from me and mom and dad," Itachi started as they strolled along casually._

 _"It's cuz I have such a cool dad! Everyone knows that."_

 _"They care for you because of who you are, not who your dad is," Itachi explained. He placed his hand on his little brother's back and guided him along. "We both have part of dad inside us, but that's not all of who we are."_

 _"I wish I was more like daddy. And I wish I could be big and strong like you are, Itachi," Sasuke said, not fully grasping what his brother was trying to tell him._

 _"It's great that you have people you can look up to, but in the end you are your own hero. Not dad, not me, but you. It's up to you what you'll become." Itachi paused and looked at the sky with a sad expression. "Sometimes people might not be who you think they are, but I just need you to know it's not your fault. You can't change who someone else is... all you can control is the decisions you make and what kind of person you're going to be."_

 _Itachi rubbed the scar on his cheek and looked at Sasuke with warmth in his eyes. He had gotten the scar only a week ago when Sasuke had followed him in the mines. One of the men hadn't noticed the little boy was there and was swinging his pickaxe wildly. Itachi jumped in front of Sasuke just in time to push him out of the way, but in the process the pickaxe had nicked him just under his eye. Sasuke had been terribly frightened for his brother, but all Itachi cared about was that Sasuke was unharmed._

 _"You'll always be my hero, Itachi," Sasuke said as he gave his brother a hug and jumped on his back for a ride back home. "No matter what!"_

Sasuke crumpled to the ground, blinded by tears he refused to shed. There was only one way to make the pain stop.

Revenge.

* * *

 **I'm back! Sorry about the long wait for this!**

 **Sorry for such a short chapter but it's been so long I wanted to get this out as soon as possible. I'm actually pretty happy with it though, hopefully you guys were too! Next update will be out early next week**


	10. New Information

The sun was still hovering low in the morning sky when Sasuke returned to the hotel, fresh out of ammunition. As he was about to walk inside he almost collided with Sakura, who was in a hurry on her way out.

"Oh- Sasuke! You're up rather early today," she said in a slightly ditzy manner, seemingly out of sorts from running in to him so suddenly. Sasuke said nothing and pushed past her, almost making her lose her temper until she calmed herself down. "Hey! I'm not a door you know! What's with you today?"

"Ask Naruto" was the only reply she got as he stormed away without even bothering to look back.

"Well, in case you're wondering I'm going to go to the hospital to check on the guy we found yesterday!" Sakura yelled back through the door, though Sasuke made no indication of hearing her... and if he had he didn't seem to care.

It was hard for Sakura to really feel like a valued member of the gang when most of them barely acknowledged her or her talents. Sure, Naruto always supported her but he was like that with everyone. Other than him and Ino no one made much of an effort to talk to her, let alone reassure her of her value in the group. Sasuke especially had a way of making her feel worthless, which was ironic considering she sought his approval the most. It seemed that the more she tried to gain his attention the more annoyed he became at her.

It would be so much easier if Sakura didn't care what people thought, if she had a strong sense of who she was and what she stood for the way Naruto and Sasuke did. But she did care, and she was completely aware of how average she was. No one ever anticipated that she would do anything with her life other than lead a completely average existence: marry an average man, have average children, make average wages, and even die an average death. After all, that was basically the lives that her parents had led. When you are born in to an average fate it's hard to not fall in to that cycle, but in Sakura's eyes she didn't feel average. She couldn't explain it but she felt this drive to do something that would defy the life that had been paved for her. If she accomplished something great she could prove to everyone who had ever condemned her as "average" just how wrong they were.

When Sakura arrived at the hospital and saw the man she had treated sleeping peacefully in one of the beds she put her mind at ease and focused on the task ahead of her. Healing him and putting her medical knowledge to use was the first time she had felt right in her own skin, and she knew that she was doing exactly what she was destined to do. Sakura's training had been minimal and many years ago, and yet everything came back to her easily and felt completely natural.

As Sakura was checking his vital signs, the man's eyes flashed open and he sat up with a jolt before clutching at his shoulder in confusion. Sakura gently laid her hand on his good side and guided him back down to a resting position. "You need to relax. You've been badly injured," she explained.

"My angel, you've returned!" he replied as his eyes wavered with tears. Sakura was more than a little creeped out that he still hadn't dropped the "love" act. Of all the guys to show interest in her why this bowl-headed freak...

She immediately felt guilty for her wavering disgust at his attempts at flirtation and worked to keep a pleasant expression on her face. "It's good to see you're awake. Where does it hurt?"

"Now that you're here I can't feel a thing," he sighed as he reached for Sakura's hand. She inched it away and tried to swallow down her annoyance in favor of a forced smile.

"Please, I really need to know where it hurts," Sakura strained to keep her voice sweet.

"My heart!" the man declared dramatically. "It is too full of love!"

"Listen PAL!" Sakura shouted, finally losing her cool and letting her hot temper take over. "I'm not your girlfriend, nor will I EVER be! So stop with all the love stuff and just tell me what the hell is going on so I can get on with what I came here to do!"

The man shriveled in fear and wordlessly indicated a spot on his shoulder to demonstrate where he felt pain. Sakura unwrapped the wound, cleaned it, rubbed in some more ointment, and redressed it in fresh bandages. "There. You should be fine within a few days. Make sure the doctor keeps changing your bandages."

"But the doctor isn't nearly as pretty as you," he protested, only to receive a terrifying warning glare from Sakura's blazing emerald eyes. "Yes, ma'm," he added impulsively.

"Good," Sakura said. In a sheepish tone she added, "I'm sorry for yelling at you... it was uncalled for. I just wanted to be treated like a professional, not like I was some schoolgirl putting a bandaid on you."

"I guess I can come on a bit strong sometimes," the man admitted as he downcast his round eyes in a way that was very unlike himself. "By the way, my name is Rock Lee."

"Lee, huh? I'm Sakura," she answered as she stiffly shook hands with the patient. "Um, do you mind if I ask who shot you?"

Lee looked up intensely and clenched his hand in to a tight fist. "It was the Akatsuki!"

"How! What happened!" Sakura asked with a gasp.

"I'm from a small village nearby, so I have no idea what drew them there... But the gang came through and robbed the only bank in town. I was the only one who stood up against them since everyone was hiding out of fear. No way was I going to let them get away with it!" Lee explained passionately. "So I chased them on foot for almost two miles."

"How could you keep up with their horses?"

"You do not understand my determination!" he declared. "Just like I won't give up in trying to seek your affection, I will never give up anything once I start!"

"Uh... yeah," Sakura muttered. Just when she thought he was done flirting with her Lee proved her wrong. The guy really didn't give up.

"Eventually they grew sick of me following them, so one of them quickly shot at me and they took off. I kept running anyways but things went black shortly after that... And that's when you saved me and stole my heart." By the end of his speech he was clutching at Sakura's hands and staring at her in absolute admiration. Sakura had to admit it was sort of nice to receive so much attention, but it still creeped her out enough to peel her hands away.

"Where do you think the Akatsuki is headed now?" Sakura questioned him earnestly. They had to be close considering Lee's recent encounter with them in the woods.

"This was the first time I've seen them here but everyone knows who they are. They always seem to be everywhere and anywhere at once, so it's hard to tell where they could be now." Lee paused and seemed to be deep in thought. "Actually, I have heard rumors that they have a hideaway out somewhere in the canyons miles West of here. At least, that's what people say."

"Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means," Sakura said as she hastily packed up her supplies in a rush to leave. She had to relay the information as quickly as possible to the rest of the gang. If they moved quickly they may be able to find the Akatsuki in the canyons before they had the chance to hide away or run again.

"You're leaving already?" Lee asked. "Will you be back!"

Sakura took a final look back at her patient as she rushed through the doorway. "I don't think so! You'll be fine without me, the doctor will take good care of you." Her pink pigtails swished through the air as she turned and dashed out of the room. "Thanks again!"

"Fate will bring us together again some day, it has to be true!" Lee shouted, though Sakura wasn't there to hear it. He leaned back in bed, his cheeks just as pink as her silky hair and a happy smile on his face. If fate wouldn't bring them back together, he would do anything in his power to meet her again!

* * *

"Is anyone in there!" came a voice accompanied by loud banging at the door. "Hellooooo!"

Shikamaru rolled over and covered his head with a pillow to try and block out the annoying screeching. Ino always thought that just because the sun was up that meant people should be too. Him and Choji, however, had a completely different policy.

"I'm not going away until you open this door!" She continued to bang so loudly it sounded like the door would fly off it's hinges.

"Just open the door," Neji commanded Choji and Shikamaru from his position in the corner of the room as he was busy sharpening one of his knives. Choji looked at Shikamaru and saw he had no intention of getting up, so he reluctantly rolled off the bed and opened the door to see Ino standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Hinata was positioned just behind the blonde with a shy smile on her face.

"About time you opened up! Hinata and I have been up for hours waiting for you three," Ino said.

"Where's Sakura?" Choji asked.

"She left to check on the man in the hospital," Hinata answered. "Ino and I were out buying supplies for the journey."

"See? While you three have been sleeping the day away we've been up getting things done!" She invited herself in and snatched the pillow off Shikamaru's head, causing him to groan and bury his face in the mattress. "Do you guys want to find the Akatsuki or not! You can sleep all you want when you're dead."

"Kill me then," Shikamaru grumbled before finally standing up and splashing water on his face from the pitcher on the table. Ino and Hinata waited patiently while the boys got themselves ready, with Hinata turning and blushing when they changed their shirts. Once they were all prepared they walked up the stairs to go to the floor above where Naruto and Sasuke were staying. Ino knocked once and the door swung open, but it wasn't Naruto or Sasuke.

Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji all gasped when they saw the pale weirdo standing in the doorway, though the man's blank expression gave no indication he recognized the trio.

"You're that guy we performed for a few days ago!" Choji said. "The weirdo asking about the wanted poster!"

"Maybe we're in the wrong room?" Hinata suggested. Shikamaru shook his head. It was definitely the right room, but something was very wrong.

Naruto suddenly appeared from behind the mysterious dark-haired man. "You three know this guy?" he asked.

"We did a show for him just before we met you," Ino explained as she eyed Sai, who was as frustratingly handsome as she remembered.

"What I'd like to know is how _you_ know this creep," Shikamaru said warily, still sensing something very off about the pale man. He was not the type to trust easily, especially when someone gave him no reason to trust them. Sasuke silently joined the group at the doorway and moved out past them towards the stairs.

"We're leaving," he said without further explanation, leading the way as the others followed. Everyone gathered up their things and moved out, still confused of why Sai was there. Once they were all in the front of the hotel Naruto explained quickly while Sasuke stood by without saying a word.

"You still want to go through with this?" Shikamaru asked Sasuke skeptically. "Itachi may be leading the Akatsuki, but he's still your brother."

"He's not my brother," Sasuke spoke up for the first time. "The only thing we share is blood, and what will that matter when he's drained of his."

"We are all still here to kill the Akatsuki," Neji added coldly. "Nothing has changed."

Hinata touched her cousin on the shoulder, trying to calm him down. She felt she could understand what Sasuke was feeling, even if he pretended he wasn't bothered by the new information about his brother. The connection between siblings was entirely different than that between friends or comrades. Sharing everything from birth bonds you to a person, no matter how much Sasuke may have tried to deny his bond with Itachi now. She knew that no matter what her sister Hanabi did, she couldn't simply stop loving her. Love was not something you could turn off or wish away so easily. "I'm... so sorry," she offered quietly to Sasuke.

"Aren't you glad to at least know your brother is alive?" Naruto announced. "You don't even know the full story! Maybe Itachi is being forced in to following the gang's orders? There's no way he would betray Konoha like that!"

Sasuke turned on Naruto coldly. "You of all people should know there are certain scum who would betray people without thinking twice about it."

Naruto turned quiet for once. It was hard enough that he had to grow up without parents, but the constant reminders of how dishonorable his father had been made it even worse. It was why he worked so hard to be the opposite of what his father had been, someone who would betray an entire village that trusted him. No matter what Naruto would never abandon a friend, and he wasn't about to abandon their mission either.

"Neji's right," Sasuke said. "Nothing has changed."

At that moment Sakura came rushing towards them with her medical pack slung over her shoulder. "I know where to find the Akatsuki! Wait a second... who's this guy?"

The group caught Sakura up with all the events that had transpired before they listened to her breathlessly recount her conversation with Lee at the hospital. "We need to get going while we still can! If we hurry we may be able to catch them before they reach their hideout."

"How can we tell that the Akatsuki are even headed in that direction?" Neji objected coldly. "Even if that raving lunatic is right about their hideout in the canyon we don't know that they're going there now."

"But it's the best lead we have," Sakura said with a sigh. She had hoped the others would be more excited about the news, but they all looked skeptical.

"Sakura's right, we don't have anything else to go on," Naruto stepped in. "Maybe we should give it a go." Sakura gave her friend a small smile. She knew he would at least support her.

"Maybe we can find out where they are right now," Shikamaru said as the group turned quiet. They turned on the lazy genius with curious expressions. If anyone could come up with a plan it was Shikamaru, and there was nothing they needed more right now than a little direction. "Ino?"

"Huh? Why are you looking at me?" Ino said, her stomach flipping when all the eyes turned on her. _Shikamaru, what are you doing!_ she practically screamed in his head.

 _If you don't tell them I will,_ was his only answer.

 _But..!_ He didn't have to explain what he meant, for Ino knew without question he was talking about her mind-reading. The only time she had ever told someone else they had acted like she was some kind of freak, so she wasn't exactly eager to divulge that information to everyone. "Okay, okay," she relinquished. "I might be able to help. I could maybe... track down the Akatsuki."

"Impossible. Even a tracker of my skills couldn't do that," Sai said.

"Not that kind of tracking," Ino said, glaring at Sai for interrupting her. She tried to put on an act of complete confidence as she explained, "I can track people with my mind."

"That's strange... I read a book that said blondes generally have low intellect. I find it hard to believe you're an exception to that," Sai said, appearing truly puzzled. He was so clueless he couldn't even tell he had offended her.

"I don't mean it like that! The truth is, I read minds! I can track people by following their thoughts," Ino said in a huff, too annoyed to care she had just revealed her biggest secret.

"So that's how the guys were able to find us when we were kidnapped... you were speaking in Shikamaru and Choji's minds the whole time!" Sakura realized. "Ino, why didn't you tell me?"

"I did when we were six," Ino said with a grin despite herself. "You thought I was crazy."

"If you really can read minds, prove it," Sasuke said. "Find the Akatsuki now."

"It's not that simple, but I'll give it everything I have," Ino assured the group. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers hard against the sides of her forehead. The position she was in didn't actually help with reading, but closed eyes and constant pressure on her head allowed her to remain focused on her target. Now that they knew Itachi was in the Akatsuki, she had an idea of what mind to search for. After all, Itachi had worked in the mines with her father sometimes and she had admittedly read his mind a few times when she was younger out of pure curiosity.

Ino tried her best to shut out the storm of thoughts surrounding her from within the busy city, but she ended up straining her mind so hard she broke out in an intense sweat and was forced to shut down her brain. Hinata handed Ino a handkerchief so she could wipe away the cold sweat and return to her senses. "They're too far away and there's too many people around here. If we're going to find them we'll have to be away from all these people and closer to the Akatsuki."

"We have to go to the canyon then," Naruto decided with a slight nod of approval from Sasuke. "And like Sakura said, we have to move quickly!" The group went to the stables where they had left their horses overnight and mounted them in a rush, leaving Sai standing awkwardly below them.

"You've got to be kidding," Shikamaru muttered. "The guy doesn't even have a horse... what a pain."

"I had to sell my horse when I arrived in town. May I... please ride with one of you?" Sai asked, attempting politeness for once.

"There's too many already. We'll have to leave him behind," Sasuke said with a frown.

"We can't just leave him behind like that. I won't do it!" Naruto declared. He pointed to another horse occupying the stable. "You can buy that horse, Sai. We can even give you some money for it." He pulled out a small wad from the money they had earned selling the caravan and handed it to Sai, who quickly bought the horse and led it out the stables. Before he could mount the horse it turned its face and he leaped back, completely terrified.

"I can't ride this horse," Sai said, pointing at the side of the horse's face from a safe distance away. "It has a black spot around its eye."

"This guy is nuts!" Choji whispered to Shikamaru, who was watching the scene with bored curiosity.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, voicing what everyone had been thinking.

"The gypsy woman warned me to stay away from horses with a black spot on their eye. It could endanger my life if I ride it," Sai said with a hilariously deadpan expression glued to his face as he pointed to Ino, who could barely hold in her laughter. A bright smile appeared on her face as she thought of a way to work Sai's naivety to her own advantage.

"It's a good thing you remembered my warning or you very well could have died," she said haughtily. "But what you didn't know is that Madam Fortune has the ability to ward off dark spirits and protect you from my own grievous prediction. Riding with you on the black-eyed horse would be the only way to guarantee your safety."

Shikamaru shook his head at Ino's ridiculous act. She was just as crazy as Sai if she thought he would believe that nonsense.

"It seems to be the only way. You must ride with me then," Sai agreed, making everyone's mouth drop open. _How gullible can the guy get,_ Shikamaru thought with a flicker of an amused smile. He had to admit Ino was rather convincing though. She jumped on to the back of the horse with Sai and held on tightly with a smug look of satisfaction.

Sasuke turned and led his horse off without another word. All of these ridiculous clowns were causing far too many delays in the journey. Even if they had proved to be useful from time to time, he was still tempted to leave them all behind. It was a lot easier to rely on himself instead of having to put his faith in others, something that seemed so easy for Naruto but was so unnatural for him.

How was it that Naruto had grown up completely alone, but he was still so open to the hearts of others? Sasuke suspected he may have once been like Naruto, carefree and happy... but all of that died along with his parents. He wondered if he would return to his former self once he had killed the Akatsuki and gained some peace of mind, or if he was doomed to wander the world a shell of a man... because once the Akatsuki were dead he truly would have no other purpose in living.

Sasuke shook his head clear of these thoughts and focused on the road ahead of him as the buildings began to become more and more sparse around them as they moved West.

* * *

 **Sorry for the late update.. for some reason it was very hard for me to write this chapter and I'm still not very happy with it. Oh well.**

 **Please take a second to leave a review! I'd love to hear some feedback, even if it's to say you hate the story! Which hopefully no one does... x)**


	11. The Akatsuki's Power

Naruto found it strange how quickly the landscape could change. Since leaving Konoha they had seen windy prairies, abandoned deserts, lush forests, and even bustling cities. Once they left the city, however, all the group had seen was endless miles of rocky desert. The orange-toned rocks were beautiful in how serenely they sat in the baking sun, with some of the rock formations almost reaching the height of mountains. At 17 years old some might consider Naruto an adult, but he still had the same childlike urges to climb all the rocks they passed. He imagined how much fun he would have had as a kid if he had had so many places to explore and climb. After all, that was something you could do all by yourself and still have fun.

Things had gotten better when he moved in to Sakura's family farm, but it was still wasn't anything close to having a real family. They always treated him nicely and fairly, but he would work all day only to go out to the lonely shed at night while the Haruno's enjoyed dinner and conversation together. Sometimes Mrs. Haruno would mend his clothing or Mr. Haruno would allow Naruto to come with him in to town to sell their crops, but it wasn't enough to fill the part of him that longed to have somewhere to belong.

Sakura had been the one who treated him most like a part of the family, even though it took a while for her to warm up to him. They had played together sometimes when they were still young, but when Sakura turned 10 she started to find Naruto annoying and immature. Suddenly she worked hard to shed her tomboy image and started wearing girly clothes and refusing to play in the mud like they had always done. For the first time she had grown out her hair and spent ridiculous amounts of time brushing and styling it in the mirror her mother had bought her as a birthday present. Naruto missed his playmate and was confused at what had brought on the transformation, but when he tried to ask Sakura she had only gotten angry at him.

 _"Naruto! You're just a stupid boy, you wouldn't understand," Sakura said as she crossed her arms and flipped her shiny hair over her shoulder._

 _"But if you wear a dress like that you'll just get it dirty when we go and play," Naruto had said, truly not able to understand why anyone would want to wear something that looked so tight and uncomfortable._

 _"I can't play any more, don't you get it?" Sakura sighed, a hint of sadness tinging her voice. "Girls can't get dirty or play in the mud. They have to be pretty and delicate."_

 _"But who cares if you're pretty? I don't care, you know," Naruto added._

 _"If I'm going to marry someone some day then they're gonna need a reason to want to marry me, right? Nobody would want to marry a girl who wears overalls and plays in the mud all day," Sakura explained in a grown up fashion she had recently adopted as she had been taking lessons with a schoolteacher in town._

 _"I would marry you even if you were always muddy or ugly," Naruto offered. He didn't understand love or marriage at that age, but Sakura was one of the only girls he had ever been close to. He assumed that meant that she would be a good wife, too._

 _"And that's why I need to act like a lady! There's no way I would marry a farmhand like you!" Sakura rebutted, sounding a little harsher than she had intended. Naruto didn't mind, though, because it meant he didn't have to worry about getting married some day. He was off the hook._

 _"Can I tell you a secret, Naruto?" Sakura then whispered in a conspiratorial tone, sounding much more like her old self than the stiff persona she had adopted. "Some day I'm going to leave this farm and go explore the whole entire world, and I'll do something amazing! So if I ever want to get out of here I have to act like a lady!"_

Naruto still didn't understand why Sakura wanted to leave the farm so desperately. She had everything she could ever want- a loving family, a stable income, and a place she truly belonged to. Still, she had seemed very determined that she would be the first Haruno to leave the farm and go out in to the world.

Things had gotten in the way of her dreams, though. A couple years of bad drought meant that the crops had suffered and the Haruno's faced some hard times. They could no longer afford Sakura's tutor and had to sell many of their nicer things just to keep their livelihood. Sakura had abandoned her dresses in favor of her old tomboyish fashion, mixing practical skirts with loose blouses, vests, and worn boots.

Even though things had been hard, Naruto had been relieved to have the old Sakura back, even if an odd sadness had settled over her. She went through the motions of working on the farm and doing her part, smiling cheerfully for her parents and never complaining about the work that was never finished. Still, even someone like Naruto could see that she had not been happy during that time.

Looking at Sakura now, she seemed to be turning in to the kind of person she was always meant to be. As they rode she had been bright and cheerful, joining along in the conversation with her chirpy laughter. Naruto grinned and felt an overwhelming warmth to see how fulfilled she had become, but along with that a shadow of doubt passed over him. Growing up on the farm his future had always been clear: he would pay his dues and do his part for as long as the Haruno's would have him. Traveling along the flat and dusty desert and seeing the breathtaking views the world had to offer, as well as the challenges that awaited him and people to meet... he didn't see how he could ever return to a quiet life on the farm again.

* * *

While Naruto looked at Sakura with a smile, Hinata watched the boy from behind. Her cheeks turned pink just thinking of what it would be like if that same smile was directed at her. It was the kind of grin that melted Naruto's whole face, squeezing his eyes shut and exposing every bit of tooth he had. He was so uninhibited and cheerful that she couldn't help but feel warm when she saw him.

"Um, Neji... did you sleep well?" she asked her cousin from her position in the front of the horse they shared. He hadn't spoken a word to her all day, and the heavy silence had started to weigh down on her. Hinata thought that maybe she was imagining it, but she couldn't help but notice how cold he had been to her since they left the village. They had never been very close, but around the tribe he had always been at least civil. Now it seemed like he could barely look at her without a cold grimace passing over his face.

"No. The fat one snores," Neji responded simply. He had not been pleased to share a hotel room with Shikamaru and Choji the previous night.

"Oh... I'm sorry," she said quietly. "If you'd like... I could take over the horse while you rest."

"I'm not taking any chances. I need to stay alert," he said roughly.

"It will be easier to stay alert if you're rested," she tried to tell Neji, but she only felt his body stiffen at the suggestion.

"Being the chief's daughter doesn't give you any say over me, whatever you may think," he said in a low voice. Hinata looked down and nervously played with the horse's sleek white hair, running it through her fingers as her mind raced along with every gallop.

She stole another glance at Naruto and his flashing grin, exuding confidence and determination. Hinata thought of the way he had fearlessly stood up to her father, something she had never even been able to do. If Naruto could stand up to someone so intimidating, then so could she.

"Neji, whatever you may think... taking help from someone does not make you weak," she finally said, trying to add conviction to her small voice.

"I told you I don't need help," he rebuffed. Hinata hesitated, but continued with her sentiment.

"We are in a strange place far from home, and all we really have is each other right now. Please don't push me away, cousin," she begged. "Even if you hate me for it, I won't give up on you."

"I don't hate you," Neji replied, but his tone wasn't very convincing. "But you could never understand."

"I understand more than you think," she said. "Please."

Neji paused and for a while Hinata thought he wouldn't answer her, but he finally said, "You were born in to your position of power and respect. To get even a fraction of what was simply handed to you I have had to train constantly, always working to prove my worth while you did nothing. That is why I would never allow pity from someone so much weaker than me. I've gotten this far without help, after all."

He didn't say it in a harsh tone, but it still hurt Hinata to hear what he finally had to say. It both confirmed and contradicted everything she had suspected about her cousin. She knew that he had always been bitter towards her because of her born position in the tribe, but she didn't understand why he seemed to think he had no respect among the Hyuga's.

"Neji, you are the strongest warrior and respected by everyone," Hinata reminded him softly. "And you are my father's favorite... you would make a much greater chief than I could."

Neji didn't respond and silence once again passed between them. It was strange to be surrounded by so many people- they were 9 now- and yet feel so alone. Hinata's own kin wouldn't even talk to her, and the rest of the group seemed so absorbed in their own conversations. Sakura and Naruto were laughing together, and even Sasuke added to the conversation. Shikamaru and Choji were riding in silence, but it was clear the pair was so close they didn't need words between them. And poor Ino was doing her best to talk to Sai, but he stayed quiet on the horse they shared.

Everyone was passing Hinata by while she had to watch from behind, and this time she could not ward off the strong feeling of loneliness and homesickness she had felt since leaving the village. She wasn't strong enough to fit in among the Hyuga's, and now she was too shy to fit in among her new group of friends. She couldn't help but wonder if there was anywhere she would fit in.

"Even though I have trained many years, it seems I'm still lacking in some areas," Neji suddenly admitted, breaking the barrier between them again. "I never learned to be kind like you are. And... that is why you would make a good chief."

Hinata smiled to herself and loosened her grip on the horse hair she had been strangling anxiously. _My kindness... might not be a burden after all,_ she thought. "Thank you," she said simply, and this time the quiet atmosphere between the pair was comfortable and at ease.

"Wait! Wait for me!" a voice cried out. In the middle of the desert any sound at all stood out, so the loud cry sounded almost deafening amidst the quiet landscape. The group turned to see a figure running towards them, too far away to make out much more than the dust kicked up by their flying footsteps.

"Is that... Is that Lee?!" Sakura cried out as she squinted to make out the flowing bowl cut and intense eyes of the man she had last seen in the hospital. He was dashing towards them at a breakneck speed that seemed almost impossible, especially for someone who had just been wounded as he had.

The group stopped their horses and jumped off as Lee approached them, only slowing down to come to a harsh halt right in front of them. "Three hours of running and I have finally caught up!" he exclaimed through bouts of heavy breathing. Sakura made him sit down and gave him a few generous gulps out of her water canteen.

"You idiot! What were you thinking running all the way out here in this heat!" she scolded him as she instinctively moved to check on his wound and his pulse. "I told you to wait in the hospital until the doctor cleared you."

"You should take it easy and rest," Hinata said quietly to Lee, handing him her handkerchief with a small smile so he could wipe the rampant sweat off his forehead. He swiped at the flowing beads of perspiration before returning it to Hinata with a grateful grin and thumbs up.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about this guy," Naruto commented as he scratched his head. "You just left him in the hospital, Sakura?"

"Well how was I supposed to know he'd be foolish enough to follow us out here," she muttered.

"I was thinking about how you were asking about the Akatsuki, and I remembered something about them I forgot to tell you," Lee said. At the mention of the Akatsuki Sasuke turned towards him and listened in anticipation. "And I couldn't let you go off to fight the Akatsuki, Sakura, without having my protection!"

"Never mind that. What is it about the Akatsuki?" Sasuke asked intensely.

"The day that the Akatsuki came through my hometown I first spotted them over by the caves. I wasn't sure who they were but I remember thinking it was suspicious the way the were all gathered there... it looked like they had been inside but I didn't see any mining tools. There's nothing of interest in those caves anyways, not even a trace of anything a miner would want. After they moved on from the caves they robbed the bank, so I forgot about seeing them there earlier until I had told you that the Akatsuki has a hide out in a cave out here," Rock Lee explained. "It might not mean anything, but I was determined to deliver the information and join your quest no matter the costs!"

"They were after the caves in Konoha when they attacked 10 years ago," Sasuke commented, noting the odd similarity. Konoha had had a prospering mining industry, so it hadn't seemed weird that it had attracted bandits.

"They must think it's easy money, to just go in caves and take the materials," Choji added. Next to him Shikamaru seemed to be deep in thought, closing his eyes as he often did when the gears in his head were turning.

"That's not it," Shikamaru finally said. Everyone turned to him as he looked down and stuck his hands in his pockets, exhibiting signs of ill-ease instead of his usual bored countenance.

"It's true that the caves are accessible, but there's also a lot of work involved in finding the valuables and mining it out of the rock," he continued in his signature deep drawl. "And it doesn't make sense that they would be willing to put the work in to mining when they could rob a bank just as easily. In the case of Lee's town the Akatsuki only robbed the bank after they had already visited the caves."

"What are you trying to say?" Sasuke said, eyes narrowed at Shikamaru. Sometimes it took the genius forever to get to the point of things, if he could even be bothered to get that far. He also had a tendency to leave out details or explanations, thinking they would be obvious to everyone when in reality he was the only one who could notice such nuances.

"The Akatsuki is looking for something in these caves, and it's definitely not for money," he concluded. "Robbing banks could be a cover for what they're actually trying to accomplish."

"I don't understand what other motivation they could have other than money," Sai wondered, genuinely confused. "Isn't that what all men desire? Or am I misinformed..."

"Power," Neji added. "One cannot underestimate the desire of raw power."

"There's just one thing that doesn't make sense," Ino objected. "When they came and attacked Konoha they didn't explore the caves. I remember because our dads had run out of them right before the Akatsuki came... They only went towards the caves for no more than a few minutes before blowing them up. If they were really looking for something, why would they look for so little time? Why bother with explosives?"

"And why would they work so hard to destroy the town of Konoha while they did so little to Lee's town," Sakura added.

"Maybe they've just gotten lazy through the years!" Naruto suggested. "Blowing up every cave they come across does sound like a lot of work."

"Whatever it is... they're not your average gang of bandits, which means underestimating them would be a mistake," Shikamaru said. "Until we find out more about them we're walking in to this thing completely blind. Even more of a pain than I thought..."

"There is definitely something strange about it all," Sasuke confessed. "But none of this speculation matters unless we can actually find the Akatsuki."

"Right! I can help with that," Ino said. "Now that we're out of the city I'll search again through their minds."

Ino closed her eyes and probed around the group's heads for a bit, taking note of everyone's brain activity so as to rule that out in her search. Once they were accounted for she worked on blocking them out and extending her reach farther in to the red rock that covered every surface and seemed to spread for the next hundred miles. The fact that the land was so barren actually worked in her favor, as it made it much easier to find the smallest pinpoint of activity.

"Got 'em," she grinned. "We're not too far off."

* * *

 **So sorry for such a late update! I've been really really busy and just couldn't find time to write this. The next update will come a lot sooner, within a week most likely.**

 **Anyways, about the chapter... There's so many characters in this story that I wanted to slow it down a bit and focus on characters for the most part in this chapter. So there was a little bit more development for Naruto, Hinata, Neji, and Sakura, and in the next few chapters I'll put more focus on the other characters. Let me know which characters you'd like to see more of! It would help me out a lot**

 **Anyways, thank you to you readers for being patient. The Fugaku/Minato ordeal WILL eventually be resolved, and there will be a few twists coming up in the story. Thanks for reading! Please please please leave a review and tell me your thoughts!**


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